Forrest and Slade, The Zack and Paula Mission
by P.J. Murphy
Summary: After agreeing to keep their distance from each other, Agents Alex Forrest and Jimmy Slade reunite to stop the selling of naval computer technology to an unfriendly government. Some adult content. Some angst, some fluff. Story now complete.
1. An Officer and Sometimes a Gentleman

_Hello again. I'm not certain how other authors feel about writing now that the new season of Chuck has gotten off to a flying start. I had planned to write another Forrest and Slade story because of the positive feedback from the last one. But I was having trouble for the longest time coming up with the ideas for it. I guess new episodes of Chuck can be an inspiration to write, because I started it yesterday (1/12/10), and suddenly a slew of ideas came about. I'll have to work hard to sort them the way I want, but I hope the result is a story you'll like._

_This is a new mission for the two. There's some angst in it, the language pushes the "T" rating somewhat, and the end of this first chapter is quite racy. Hopefully the ladies will appreciate that part as much as the guys, and it'll be obvious why when you read it. ;-)_

_As always, please leave reviews. Otherwise, I might think I suck at this. It's your job to TELL ME I suck at this._

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Los Angeles International Airport  
January 6, 2011  
12:00 PM PST

Alex Forrest hated to fly.

It seemed like an odd phobia to have, given what she did for a living. She had been tortured twice and been shot 3 times in her nine years on the job. There weren't a lot of things that made her nervous, but flying did. She figured a lot of people who flew on a regular basis hated it as well, but she had something of an excuse.

Her first parachute jump was the epitome of a last-second decision.

Posing as a French flight attendant on a private plane with a rookie partner six years ago, they attempted to follow a diplomat and retrieve confidential documents he tried to deliver to a separatist group working in Europe. Unfortunately, the diplomat was tipped off by a faux pas on the part of the rookie agent regarding a type of French wine. The young agent acted too impulsively to reach for her weapon, and an accidental shot went through the pilot and the plane's computer, rendering both dead. Alex was able to take out the two bodyguards with her knife before the diplomat killed her partner with the corkscrew for the wine bottle. His small victory lasted about two seconds, as Alex sent a throwing dagger through his heart. She crawled up the floor to the back of the plane while it was in a full nosedive and grabbed an emergency parachute. She was able get it opened with about 800 feet to spare before hitting the Mediterranean. The half-mile swim to shore was the easy part.

Fortunately, today's assignment would be a bit simpler. She was to provide database updates to the computers in the Castle underground facility and research the latest data on Seo Chang-Hee, a member of the North Korean State Security Agency believed to be implanted in Los Angeles. Chatter from communications satellites indicated he might be shopping for some information, and Forrest was to keep tabs on his whereabouts.

Certainly it would be good to visit Agents Bartowski and Walker and Colonel Casey.

She had been waiting for an opportunity to thank them again for their help the last time she was on the west coast. After a rather stilted beginning, they were able to bring down a major Russian crime family and caused a shake-up in the Duma, leading to several resignations and arrests of key members. Given that she almost pooched the whole mission by trying to make a deal with Sergei Kolinova on her own and was captured, only to be freed by them, today's trip would be far less contentious.

Sadly, it might turn out to be a quick visit, depending on where Seo Chang-Hee planned to go. If he was heading out today, Forrest would have to act fast. The orders were to observe and gather as much intel as possible. If he attempted to broker a deal, apprehending everyone involved was priority one. Missions with so many unknown factors were dangerous ones, and she contemplated enlisting Agents Bartowski and Walker for help if they were available. Certainly they proved their competency in Las Vegas and would be invaluable to her. However, their team tended to remain in L.A. for considerable amounts of time; doubtlessly they had more than their fair share of missions to take care of in this town.

She did have to admit, in spite of her feelings to the contrary, there was one other agent whose help she would greatly appreciate. She didn't trust herself to work with him again without letting her own personal feelings interfere, but she had to admit, for such a new agent, he was one of the more reliable choices you could find in the Agency.

But as far as she knew, he was still in London.

_**Director of National Intelligence, Washington, D.C.  
January 6, 2011  
4:00 PM EST**_

Jimmy Slade shook off his overcoat of what seemed like six inches of snow that fell on it in the short distance between the car that drove him from Dulles International and the front door to the offices of the DNI. It felt good to be back in the States, but he could hardly call his 8 weeks in the United Kingdom grueling. Well, not since New Year's Eve, anyway. The prior seven weeks were a bit tougher.

MI-5 requested the help of the CIA with a special project, and General Beckman was only too happy to volunteer Jimmy barely 3 days after he helped stop the terrorist attack in New York. A splinter faction of the former IRA decided it was still too ticked off at the British government to adhere to the 1998 Good Friday peace accord and planned to destroy electrical stations around London on Christmas Eve. An MI-5 agent implanted in the group needed a computer and electronics expert to help him, and Jimmy was able to help him stop the attack. The Prime Minister told British Intelligence to hide Jimmy for a few days from the CIA to let him relax in London over the holiday after he barely got away from being shot by the last remaining members of the faction.

Unfortunately, naiveté was not one of General Beckman's flaws. She ordered him back to D.C.

Jimmy sat quietly outside of Beckman's office, waiting for her to finish a phone call. Her new secretary, Shayna, took the occasional glance at Jimmy and gave him a smile that was part-sympathy, part-desire.

"Any advice on how to talk to her?" Jimmy asked Shayna with a bit of nervousness.

"Don't act like you're the greatest thing since sliced bread, and usually that will get you through the meeting. She's not impressed with anybody or anything," she replied.

Jimmy smiled. Arrogance was not one of his problems. Most days, he was humble to the point of being annoying.

Shayna's phone buzzed, and she pressed a button underneath her desk. "You can go in."

"Thanks," Jimmy replied.

Jimmy took several steps into the office and stopped dead in his tracks. He suspected a lot of people did that when entering Beckman's office for the first time.

He didn't realize General Beckman was that short.

Even though his 6 foot monster-sized frame towered over her, she didn't give even one indication that she was intimidated. _That would make sense_, he thought. You don't make it this high up the food chain in such a dangerous world unless you were quite intimidating yourself.

"General?"

She looked up from her papers and gave a quick appraisal of the stocky agent in front of her that she didn't reveal. "Have a seat, Agent Murdock."

_She likes that formality, I see_. Jimmy noticed Beckman liked to keep her distance, which was probably necessary in the job. There were only four people who still called him Jimmy Slade, and Beckman wasn't one of them.

"I'll dispense with MI-5 enforcing a mini-vacation on you without our approval and get to your next mission. Are you familiar with Admiral Blake Carter?"

"The Bayou Bulldog? I've heard of him. The Navy probably wishes they had one of him on all of their ships. Tough S.O.B. A real character, if I heard the rumors correctly. Wasn't he testing something for the Naval wondergeeks on the _USS Stockton_?"

"Correct, Agent Murdock. The Navy had installed its next-generation sonar array aboard his ship and has been testing it out in the waters off of San Diego. But Admiral Carter suspects that someone within the Navy might be attempting to obtain the computer codes that control the system and sell them to an unfriendly government."

"Respectfully, General, wouldn't this fall under the purview of NCIS?"

"Carter has some issues with the upper brass in NCIS. He doesn't want them wrapping this investigation up in a lot of red tape just to spite him. They don't like the huge leeway he's granted by the NCO in the Special Warfare Command. That's why he did an end-around and contacted a few of his friends here for help. I'm sending him you."

"I'm going in as an agent?"

"Only to him. As far as anyone else is concerned, you're a Commander within the Navy that is on special detachment from NSW. Gather all of the data you can, both up-front and through the back channels. Report to Field Prep services downstairs and draw everything you'll need for this assignment. Here is the remainder of your cover."

Beckman passed him a large file folder, and Jimmy opened it to the front page. "Commander Paul Purcell, graduated Annapolis in '95, top of the class, et cetera, et cetera." He glanced through the rest of the page. "Is anybody in the Navy this squeaky-clean?"

"It's necessary. Fewer people will question your credentials. Book yourself on the next flight out and get to Coronado right away."

"Yes, General," Jimmy replied. He rose and quickly exited his office.

"Agent Murdock?"

Jimmy turned. "General?"

"It's a good thing MI-5 made you take a few days off, because you won't be getting any for quite a while. There are a lot of people in this agency keeping their eye on you, myself especially. You're the shiny new toy out of the toy box right now."

Jimmy paused for a second and regarded what his diminutive-yet-intimidating boss told him. "Thank you, General." He turned and exited, flashing a warm smile to Shayna as he went to the elevators.

As he took the elevator down to the basement and Field Prep services, he recalled what some of the spooks in MI-5 had told him a few weeks ago. He was the newest Flavor of the Month in the CIA. The agency had a well-known tradition in the intelligence community to run one rookie agent ragged with assignments to see how well they'd handle the stress. As taxing and dangerous as it was for the agent, it was also a badge of honor. It meant the agency had very high expectations for the new agent and planned to move them up the ladder quickly if everything went according to plan. Word of the incident in New York had spread quickly throughout British Intelligence, and more than a few people in London were interested in seeing one half of the duo who saved thousands of lives by stopping the chemical WMD from being released in Manhattan. They were quite surprised to find how quiet and unassuming Jimmy was. They must have been expecting the American version of James Bond to walk through their doors. But it didn't take long for Jimmy to earn their trust when he helped them stop the IRA splinter faction in its tracks, even pulling their agent out from capture and certain death. That agent, still recovering in the hospital from gunshot wounds to his lungs and abdomen, was certainly grateful.

_**Orange Orange  
January 6, 2011  
1:30 PM PST**_

Sarah Walker watched the last of the lunch crowd leave the shop, and she proceeded to wipe down the counter for the 100th time today. It was way too quiet without Chuck and Casey around. Both of them had gone up to Stanford to brief on-campus CIA operatives about new security protocols and networking rules. There was little to do around Burbank. She didn't dare walk into the Buy More, lest she would have to deal with the three-headed monster of Morgan, Jeff, and Lester without supervision. Ellie and Devon were pulling all-day shifts at the hospital, and they hadn't had a new mission in a week. It felt silly not to enjoy the quiet, as pressure-packed as this job typically was. But she needed something to break up the tedium.

Her iPhone rang. She looked at the caller ID to find General Beckman's number. "Me and my big mouth," she said quietly. "It didn't take long to jinx that."

"Yes, General?"

"Agent Walker," Beckman's voice came across in its traditional no-nonsense tone. "I have someone coming to Castle to give you an update to your database files and do some research. Extend them every courtesy."

"Who is it, General?"

As if General Beckman planned it to the second, the door to the Orange Orange opened, and Alex Forrest walked in.

"Never mind, General. I just got the answer."

"Thank you, Agent Walker." Beckman hung up the phone. Sarah put her phone away and smiled at her guest.

"Alex, it's good to see you," Sarah replied, extending her hand. Alex shook it warmly. It had only been four months since the two were at odds with each other, so it was safe to say they weren't at the level where they would greet each other with a hug. Alex didn't really consider herself the hands-on type anyway, and she suspected Sarah wasn't, either.

"I'm definitely happy to see you, Sarah. I'm sorry to crash your office, but I've got some files for you to upload, and then I need to borrow your computers to do some research. But I am more than willing to go out for that lunch I owe you."

Sarah smiled. "That sounds great. It's pretty quiet around here." Sarah walked to the door to lock it and then walked back to the freezer. Alex followed behind as Sarah punched in her code to access Castle. Once the retinal scanner confirmed her ID, the door opened, and the two walked downstairs.

"Is it that bad? I would think there's no shortage of work in southern California."

"Chuck and Casey are up at Stanford right now going over a few new procedures with the people up there, and the CIA told me to stay down here. They'll be back in town tomorrow night."

"Oh. I'll have to take them out the next time I'm here." She handed Sarah a memory stick. "Just go through the usual protocol on that. It's a set of profile updates Langley didn't want to send over the network.

"Is this a quick in-and-out for you?"

Alex sat at one of the computers. "Depends on this guy," she replied, holding up a file folder. "Seo Chang-Hee. I'm sure you've heard of him. The DPRK is considering moving him up the ladder in their security service after a few of their agents had some 'creative differences' with their bosses."

Sarah let out a low whistle. She had been on the receiving end of torture before, but to be labeled a traitor by the North Korean government meant you would have been better off committing suicide.

"Is he trying to win brownie points right now?"

Alex continued typing away at the computer. "That's the chatter Langley heard. They think he's going to try and buy some files or perhaps some software here in the U.S. and get it over to Pyongyang. Unfortunately, that's all of the information that we have so far."

"I don't envy you this assignment. Anything I can do to help?"

Alex smiled. "A friendly face loaning me her computer so I can find out where this man is heading. You've done plenty already."

The data Alex required came up on the computer. "Ah, just what I needed. One of his aliases is catching a 6PM flight to San Diego. I'll book myself on a flight before then and that should do the trick."

"San Diego?" Sarah thought about it for a minute. "There are a couple of industrial possibilities there. But if he's trying to make a big score, I would think he's going for something with the U.S. Navy."

"That sounds like a very plausible starting point." Alex entered a few notes into her smartphone and then turned to Sarah. "How does lunch sound? Your town, you pick the place."

"Sounds great. Let's go."

_**Dulles International Airport  
**__**January 6, 2011  
5:30 PM EST**_

Jimmy was grateful for the quick ride to Dulles. What should have taken 2 hours on a snowy night in Washington only took 30 minutes thanks to the D.C. Police. He barely caught the flight to San Diego in time. He could have waited three more hours for the next flight, but that would not have left enough time to do anything constructive following the five-hour flight. One of the advantages of being a CIA agent: they'll hold the plane for you if it's necessary. He settled into his business class seat and started reading through his profile briefing. It may not have been the wisest idea, but there were few people in this section of the plane, and he needed something to distract himself while the plane tried to cut through the heavy weather on its way to San Diego. Defusing a bomb designed to kill thousands didn't faze him, but a few bumps on a plane made him dive for cover.

_**Angelotti's  
**__**January 6, 2011  
2:15 PM PST**_

"This is rather sad, isn't it?"

"Completely."

"How do men get away with this? Where do they hide it?"

"I wish I knew."

Sarah and Alex looked around the restaurant, both feeling a bit of envy at the large plates of food some of the patrons were eating. Sarah never really overindulged at meals. She reserved those times where she let go a little for when either Chuck or Ellie prepared a dinner for her. Ellie was as good of a chef as she was a doctor, and she was a stellar physician. Chuck wasn't quite the master in the kitchen that his sister, or even she, was. But he was catching up quickly. He never liked to flash on the litany of cooking styles the new Intersect had in his head. He wanted to "earn his way" in the kitchen. That he did, and Sarah was always letting him know how much she appreciated it.

By comparison, the two salads staring the women back in their faces seemed paltry. But that's how life worked. It wasn't fair, but they were in the wrong business to have fortune fall their way.

"I guess I should be happy," Alex noted as she picked at the lettuce. "I'm in better shape now than I was when I graduated from Temple University."

"That's the advantage of CIA training today: they don't hold the ladies back," Sarah replied as she covered a piece of cucumber with her balsamic vinaigrette dressing. "I can't even imagine being in this business 40 years ago when all women did was infiltrate and seduce. We get to do more of the heavy lifting now. The women who were in the agency back then probably had to be on a saltines-and-water diet and live with it."

"It's a dirty, cutthroat business, but who else is going to do it? We're good at this. It's not exactly a job that can be done half-assed. You do it perfectly, or people suffer." Alex paused for a moment, shook her head, and smiled. "Christ, I'm starting to sound like my father. I think I got my attitude problem from him. It drove him crazy. I don't doubt he and my mother had more than a few discussions about it when I was growing up."

"Where does he live?"

"He lives with my brother, my brother's wife, and kids just outside of Philadelphia. His health hasn't been the greatest lately."

Alex paused for a moment. "My mother waited for over 30 years for him to come home every night from being a Philly cop."

Sarah let a little laugh slip. "Sorry. But it does explain quite a few things about you."

"No apology necessary. He finally retired and he spent 6 years making up for lost time. They traveled the world, and my brother, Mike, and I made sure they did. We had a lively childhood home, to say the least. Two very stubborn kids kicking the shit out of each other. Mike is a lawyer now for a prestigious firm in Philadelphia. I'm lucky to have two of the cutest nieces around."

"What happened to your mother?"

Alex hung her head. "She died of cancer four years ago. It's been a rather nasty sticking point with my brother ever since. I couldn't get back in time for the funeral. I was deep undercover in Iran. The CIA made up a story for me, but Mike still didn't accept it as an excuse."

"I'm sorry for prying like that."

"It's OK. You deserve to know a few things. I owe you that after the way I acted towards you and Chuck the first time we met. And then I go and do the same thing I reported you for doing. I'm very sorry. I'm seeing it from your angle now. I acted inexcusably."

Sarah gave her a sympathetic glance. "I'm not upset about that anymore. Everything worked out in the end. I just wish I knew why you can't pursue something with Jimmy. It's obvious you really like him. What reason could you have?"

Alex bristled at the question. She remained silent. Sarah studied her.

"Was there someone else once?"

Alex looked away and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stifle a stray tear. "I was engaged years ago. I was crazy in love with John. John O'Shea. One of the nicest people I ever met. Gorgeous, too. Actually, he looked a bit like…what's the name of Chuck's brother-in-law? The blonde haired doctor?"

"Devon."

"Devon, yes. He looked a little like him. Granted, John didn't practically scream 'California Surfer Dude' with his looks, but he was such a wonderful person."

"He left?"

Alex's voice was practically a whisper. "Not of his own accord." Sarah waited in silence for Alex to finish her thought. "He was in the Pentagon on 9/11."

Sarah nervously fidgeted in her seat. She could feel the air a bit heavier around her. "I'm sorry, Alex. That's…that's a horrible thing to happen to you."

"Thank you. It's…a lot of things changed that day." Alex didn't want to tell Sarah about her suicide attempt when she found out about John's death. If it wasn't for her roommate finding out the news as well, Alex would have been successful in killing herself that night. "I was going to work for the FBI, but then I asked to be sent to Langley. I just had to get away from D.C."

Alex paused for a moment and exhaled deeply. "I just don't want to put myself through that again."

"I can understand that. I don't blame you. But I thought I could do the same thing. You know the type of men we encounter in this line of work. But then Chuck came along. I didn't know guys like him even existed, spy world or otherwise. There was something to his boyish charm, his enthusiasm that I found irresistible. Everybody said he was someone who would always love me and never betray me. They were right."

"Are you saying Jimmy is another such person?"

"In some ways, he's even better. It took Chuck a bit of time to get used to being a spy. Jimmy dove head-first into it without even realizing it. No training of any kind, either. We put him in harm's way and what he did for us was…I still can't believe it sometimes, even 15 months later."

"Clearly he had some skills. He even came back from the dead."

Sarah nodded and smiled. "He took out the Ring facility here and helped Chuck rescue Casey and me. He gave up his life for us, literally. How do you not have feelings for someone like that?"

Alex nodded in agreement. "He did a great job in New York. We stopped the attack. I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for him. Unfortunately, I haven't talked to him since. Have you?"

"He sent Chuck and me a Christmas present: a weekend at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills and got us into their New Year's Eve bash. I still want to strangle him for doing that. That was way too generous of him."

"Well, he hasn't spoken to me since Beckman sent him to London not three days after the New York attack. But then, I didn't leave him an address to send me a Christmas present. I did what you said and told him we couldn't be together. I was up-front with him. I guess he listened to what I said."

"They sent him to London that quickly?" Sarah paused for a second and then smiled. "Ah."

Alex stared at her a moment and then got the same smile on her face. "He's their shiny new toy, right? I went through that for most of the summer in 2002. I was the fair-haired girl they wanted at Langley."

Sarah's smile widened. "I think I followed you that winter. They sent me all over the world."

"If I have my dates right, you were four years younger. Wow. I thought I was a kid when they did that. You were barely past drinking age."

Sarah laughed. "Truthfully, I didn't exactly wait until I was legal to down a few."

"Oh, believe me. A six-pack of Miller and the back of my boyfriend's father's minivan when I was 16 is a story I never dared tell my father, even to this day."

"Well, never say never. I get the feeling you haven't seen the last of Jimmy."

Alex shook her head. "I'm sure I'm nothing more than a pleasant memory for him now."

Sarah smiled. "I wouldn't count on that. He's not the type to forget someone so quickly. You better be careful out there. He got to you once; he'll get to you again."

Alex's smartphone beeped, reminding her about her flight to San Diego. She waved for the check. "I better make my way back to LAX. It was good to see you again. I'm glad things are going well with you and Chuck."

Both women rose as the check arrived, which Alex promptly handed back with the payment and a tip.

"Thanks for lunch. Come out here more often, will you?"

Both women extended their hands and looked for a moment. They silently decided to give each other a hug. "Take care of yourself, Sarah. Give Casey some grief for me."

Sarah laughed. "I'm always happy to do that."

Both women exited the restaurant and headed for their respective cars. Sarah drove back to the Orange Orange, while Alex drove towards the airport. She thought about what Sarah said. She couldn't envision a situation where she would run into Jimmy again. Beckman was probably going to send him all over the world to do God knows what. It had only been 8 weeks since they were together, so forgetting about him was still out of the question. However, both of them had jobs that did not lend themselves to convenience or a personal life. It would take some crazy circumstance for the two of them to end up together again. But like Sarah said, never say never.

_**Naval Base, Coronado  
January 6, 2011  
8:15 PM PST**_

Jimmy Slade drove his rental car to the gates of the base and procured his ID for the guards. They let him pass with a very efficient salute and a crisp "thank you, sir," which Jimmy returned. He had to remind himself to do that a few times. It felt silly that they would be saluting him; they were the ones putting their lives on the line for the country. Jimmy should be saluting them.

He was able to slip into a restroom at the San Diego International Airport and put his formal Navy attire on. Field Prep Services was smart enough to include a placard with the uniform to show him where everything should be and how it should look. When he emerged from the bathroom stall, he made sure everything looked perfect. He practiced putting on the hat a few times to make sure he did it correctly. He was supposed to be a 15-year veteran of the Navy, and almost certainly that maneuver would be perfected by now to an actual Naval officer.

He exited his car by the Administration Building and walked inside. There were only one or two people on duty right now, but Admiral Carter was supposed to be in his office. A person at the front desk pointed out where his office was and called him as Jimmy walked down the hallway. When he got to the doorway of Admiral Carter's office, he stopped and saluted, his heels clicking in the process as he stood at attention.

"Sir."

Admiral Carter looked up from his paperwork and appraised Jimmy for a second. A slight smile came to his face as he returned the salute.

"Heels ain't supposed to click when you come to attention, son," Carter drawled with a thick Cajun accent.

Jimmy was the proverbial deer in the headlights. "Uh, I'm sorry, sir. I tried to practice…"

"Ah, hell. I'm just messin' with you, son. Come on in." Carter rose and extended his hand.

"Thank you, sir." Jimmy shook his hand but was still nervous as hell. He didn't know it was possible to trip over your own two feet just trying to greet someone. Thank God he never had aspirations of becoming a diplomat.

"Have a seat, Murdock." Jimmy sat down at one of the chairs in front of Carter's desk while he closed the office door. "Coffee? Soda?"

"No thank you, sir." Jimmy was getting well-versed at imitating rigor mortis while seated at the chair.

"Damn, son, you better learn to relax. You're so tight, when you fart only dogs can hear it."

"Sorry, sir. This is a bit of a new assignment for me."

"Hell, don't pull that humble shit with me, Murdock," Carter replied as he sat back down at the desk and held up a report. "Beckman sent me the file on you. Phenomenal job you did for us in New York. She thinks you're the next big thing in the Agency."

"Thank you, sir. But I'm surprised the CIA shared that much information with you."

"Ah, Little D and I go way back. Her first husband and I slid through a lot of mud as little piss-ant Marines stationed over in 'Nam in '71 and '72. He went straight, got into civilian life, and I decided to get myself educated at Annapolis to see what all those tight-ass officers had on me. Wouldn't you know it, you always become the thing you hate the most. But then, not a lot of people can say they've got 600 fine sailors and tons of floating steel at their command."

"Your reputation does precede you, sir."

"Little D tells me you're pretty good at the techno-crap and can hold your own out there in the field. I can't prove it, but I know someone has been messing with the computers here that control the new sonar array. Whoever it is, they're damn good at coverin' their tracks. I need you to get in there. Get this stuff in English for me, or at least a language I can understand. Makes me goddamn mad someone would do that on my boat."

"I'll find whoever is doing this, sir. Count on it."

"As far as anybody knows, you're with NSW. A commander's rank will get you access to almost every part of the ship and only a few of my officers are above you. But they've been with me for at least ten years. If they're not beyond reproach, what this bastard is doing is way smarter than any of them. It's gotta be someone in the crew."

"Yes, sir. Do you have a good starting point in mind?"

"Well, I'm hopin' you're not too jet-lagged flyin' cross-country. The NEX has a social tonight, and a lot of my crew will be there, since they only have an 8-hour liberty. Not enough time to be getting into trouble around town. Starts in 15 minutes, actually. Everybody has to be back on duty by 0200 hours. Gives you a chance to get to know some of the crew, maybe poke around a bit. Socially, of course."

"A good idea, sir. I will do that."

Carter pointed to the door. "Ensign outside has your billeting. They put you up in one of the hotels nearby. I told them to give you a nice one. Call it a thank you present for not letting New York get blown up. I would have gotten you LSU football tickets, but they're not on sale yet for this year."

Jimmy smiled. This guy was a character. "I appreciate that, sir."

Jimmy rose and saluted the Admiral, who retuned it. He turned and walked out of the office. He stopped by the front desk, where the ensign handed him an envelope with "Commander Purcell" written on it. He placed the envelope in his briefcase and pulled out the base map. The NEX was several buildings down, but it was easy to tell which building by the lights and all of the noise. He had to admit being rather fatigued, but work was work. This certainly wasn't tougher than trying to sleep on a wooden bench inside a Belfast pub while hiding a knife under his pillow.

_**Naval Base, Coronado  
January 6, 2011  
8:45 PM PST**_

Alex left the surveillance of Seo Chang-Hee to the local CIA office. After tailing him from the airport, he checked into a hotel along Interstate 5 and appeared to be making it an early night. The office would contact her if he made any calls, got online, or went out for the night. Chang-Hee was not a social man by nature, and he typically did not interact with people unless he had to.

Alex decided to do a little surveillance at Coronado off of Sarah's suggestion that Chang-Hee would be looking for data from the Navy. Certainly he wouldn't be crazy enough to go on the base; someone here had to be obtaining the information for him. It unnerved her that someone in the Armed Forces would commit treason like this, but some people had motivations in life that trumped honor and duty.

She wasn't expecting such a huge crowd.

There was information on the base's internal Website that there would be a social event tonight, but she assumed most people would blow it off. But clearly a simple DJ-and-open-bar event was enough to get people to attend. Perhaps they weren't giving off-base passes tonight. Fortunately, her midnight blue blouse and black skirt blended right in at the event. At the door, she showed one of her sets of credentials that would get her into almost any government function imaginable. She slowly took in the room. Most people were chatting amiably with drinks in their hands. A few were dancing to the type of music you might hear from a DJ at a wedding. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.

_Boy, did I speak too soon._

She stared across the floor. She could hardly believe what she saw. Like most women, a man in uniform was something of a turn-on for Alex, but she had been through enough in her life where she could take it or leave it. Often times, individuals in the Armed Forces were a bit of a hindrance to her work, although she certainly appreciated the one or two occasions where they extracted her from the danger zone.

Never in her wildest fantasies did she expect Jimmy to be standing there in the uniform of a naval officer. And looking insanely hot as well.

He hadn't noticed her yet. He appeared to be appraising the room. Judging by his stance and the way his slate blue eyes looked around, he was on some sort of mission. What he was doing, she was not certain. She even contemplated not going over there and letting him do his work. After all, she was here on reconnaissance, too.

Personal feelings won out. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. She tried for the last eight weeks to not think about him. But it was obvious why Chuck, Sarah, and even Casey had a special place in their hearts for him. He was pretty hard to forget. Especially in certain areas, the thought of which sent a tingle through her entire being.

Jimmy was making his way across the room, observing the crowd. The occasional person came up to him and saluted, which he efficiently returned. He spoke a few words with one or two of the officers on the base. His eyes looked across the room. He saw her. He saw her making her way across the floor to him. Alex noticed his facial expression didn't change when he saw her, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

He had not forgotten one thing about her.

She met him in the middle of the dance floor. With a large crowd around her, she put on her best poker face and pretended she didn't know him.

"Commander Purcell, I don't believe we've met. Lucy Draper. I'm with TekTel Industries." Alex extended her hand, and she was amazed she hadn't changed expression.

For his part, neither did Jimmy as he shook her hand. "A pleasure, ma'am. Commander Paul Purcell."

The crowd around them paid no attention as a slower song began to play. Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Care to dance?"

A smile she hadn't felt in years drew itself across her face. "Of course."

She stepped quietly towards him, allowing him to take her hand as her other slid across his shoulder while he held her at the waist. She had to admit, it was taking most of her willpower not to rip his uniform off in the middle of the crowd. Judging by the look in his eyes, his self-restraint was being tested like it never had before.

"I gather you're working on a project," Jimmy intoned, trying to keep his language neutral in case anybody was listening.

"You could say that. I'm keeping an eye on a potential buyer."

"Well, then this is fortuitous. I might be looking for the people who are doing the selling."

Alex gave a slight laugh. _Never say never is right, Sarah._ "It would appear we're working the same project from opposite ends. Is there anybody here that stands out so far?"

"Nobody out of the ordinary," Jimmy replied.

Alex slid her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so she could whisper quietly in his ear. "There's a couple on your 7. Their talk does not look pleasant. They're doing what we're doing…trying to cover up a conversation we don't want others to hear."

As the two moved in time to the music, Jimmy spotted the couple to whom Alex was referring. "Yeah, I see what you mean. I think that's Lieutenant Hansen. He works in the CIC on the _Stockton_, but I didn't get a full file on him yet. It's as good of a place as any to start. Unfortunately, my people skills are limited to a couple of basic psychology classes back at Illinois 20 years ago. Not much of that happened during my training. Maybe they weren't expecting me to do as much infiltration."

Alex smiled. Still the same humble-to-a-fault Slade. "I wouldn't worry about it. This is a very open case right now. It's up to us to gather the intel. We already know who our buyer is, and you have the technical skills to sniff out the seller. For now, we'll just enjoy this dance."

Jimmy smiled. "I already was. I don't get to dance much."

"That's a shame. Male agents consider it a very overrated skill, but even I enjoy a guy who likes to dance."

The song ended, and the two agents looked at each other. It felt like the 8 weeks since they last saw each other fell away in an instant. To their credit, they stayed professional.

"Well, Miss Draper," Jimmy said with a bit of a light air about him. "I've been running on fumes for the last 12 hours, and I still have to check into my hotel. Did you care to head out and continue our discussion?"

She gave him a look. "I can do that. I would imagine you would want to get a little rest before your big day of work tomorrow."

Jimmy offered her his arm, which she took as they walked out of the room.

_**Loew's Hotel, Coronado  
January 6, 2011  
10:45 PM**_

Alex stood back in the lobby of the hotel as Jimmy checked in with the desk clerk. She wasn't sure how Jimmy got the reservation, but the hotel was certainly luxurious. He never struck her as the type who lived high off the hog, so she suspected someone called in some favors to get him a hotel this nice. Jimmy had mentioned the _USS Stockton_ earlier, and the talk around D.C. was that their C.O., Admiral Carter, was something of an outsider when it came to the top brass in the U.S. Navy. However, they didn't despise him so much that they would punish him by making him sit at a desk in some office far away from the ocean.

Alex was checking her smartphone for messages from the San Diego CIA office for any new data, but none had come across. Jimmy walked up to her.

"I'm all set. We should probably discuss a few things before calling it a night, since we seem to be working on the same case."

Alex gave a slight smile. "Not a problem. Lead the way."

Alex and Jimmy arrived on the 16th floor of the hotel and proceeded down to his room. He unlocked the door and allowed her to enter. The room was a respectably-sized two bedroom suite. Alex took a look around at the room.

"I just hope the taxpayers don't hear about this."

Jimmy shrugged. "I just go where they tell me to go."

Alex laid her coat on a chair. "We'll talk to General Beckman in the morning. Clearly we know that North Korea wants to get their hands on Navy technology. We know our buyer, and now we need to find the seller and the product."

"Admiral Carter thinks one of his crew members might be selling the computer programs that control their new sonar array," Jimmy informed her. "Knowing how that thing works would be a boon to North Korea's military. Carter is guessing it is one of his mid-level officers, perhaps someone with access to the CIC and the systems on-board his ship."

"Very good. I wasn't expecting to work with you again, but I would trust you to keep our relationship professional while we're here, just like you did in New York."

"Not a problem, boss," Jimmy replied with a smile.

"Good."

"Good."

They stood there for a moment, looking at the quiet expressions on each other's faces. Suddenly, they lunged together, their lips meeting as Jimmy grabbed her and pressed up against her. Alex grabbed his head and held him tightly as she kissed him with a passion she hadn't felt since before starting this job. He pressed her up against the wall as his tongue eagerly found hers, her hair falling about their faces in a torrid display that didn't slow them down one bit. His hands reached up for her blouse.

"Wait, wait," she panted breathlessly. "I like this blouse."

Jimmy didn't break stride and ripped it off of her. "I'll buy you a new one," he growled fervently. His hand cupped her breast and he planted kisses all over her chest.

His hot mouth and eager tongue on her soft flesh made him instantly forgivable. "Ah, the hell with the blouse, just don't stop." She ran her fingers all through his hair and bit the top of his ear as he feasted on her luscious bosom. She wasn't certain if Jimmy could top his performance the last time they were together, but he was certainly acting as if he wanted to try.

She pulled his face back up to hers and penetrated his mouth with her tongue as she quickly unbuttoned his coat.

"You know," she whispered with considerable lust. "This is why I never dated anybody in the military. Too much effort to get their clothes off." Her fingers danced down the front of his rock hard torso to unbutton everything. She pulled the coat off of him and proceeded to work on his shirt and pants. He reached around to the zipper on the side of her skirt, pulling it down and letting the skirt fall to the ground. She got his shirt open and started kissing his chest.

"I swear, I think I've broken every rule in the book when it comes to you," Alex said as she tasted his salty skin with her tongue. "I think the old me would consider the new me crazy."

"I don't have all of the rules memorized. I'm still working on it." He held onto her and moved her up against the wall. "But I do have one rule now when it comes to sex."

Alex looked him in the eyes, barely able to stop long enough to listen. "What is that?"

She felt her panties sliding down to the ground. Jimmy had an intense look of desire.

"Ladies first."

He quickly kissed his way down her body and kneeled at her feet. He slid one of her legs over his shoulder. Alex fell back against the wall and closed her eyes. The feeling was beyond intense.

"That's…that's a good rule. Oh God, is that a good rule."

Her breathing bordered on hyperventilation. She didn't think he could bring his game up a notch since last time, and he still hasn't. He brought it up about ten notches. She grabbed his arms and put his hands on her breasts, not just to have Jimmy feel them, but to give her something she could hang on to. He was quickly making it impossible to remain standing.

"Ohhhhh, there is no way this will go unanswered." Her entire body began to shake as the feeling overtook her.


	2. New Items on the To Do List

_Hello. Hope you are enjoying the story. Try as I might, I can't seem to write short chapters. These take effort to read, I'll admit. But I hope I'm doing a good job with this story. Just a little diversion to keep your Chuck appetites whetted as you wait for Mondays._

_We get into more of Alex's past and background in this chapter. I've had a lot of compliments on how I've written her. I hope it is to everyone's satisfaction. If not, just hit that review button at the bottom and tell me what I should be doing. Or if I'm doing it right, you can still hit that review button at the bottom and let me know._

_By the way, click on my profile to see how you can enjoy Chuck fanfics and help out the victims of the Haitian earthquakes. They need our help._

_**

* * *

Haverford, Pennsylvania  
December 24, 2010  
4:45 PM**_

Alex parked her car in the just-plowed driveway of her brother's almost palatial house, having correctly guessed the 3-hour drive from McLean, Virginia to his house would take at least twice as long. Such was the burden, even on a day off such as this, of trying to drive I-95 through Washington, D.C. and Baltimore up to suburban Philadelphia following a Nor'easter. She could have booked a flight, but she figured the hassle of the two airports more than offset the time savings of a plane as opposed to going on the road.

She had that nervous/excited feel that she hadn't had since graduating from Temple 11 years ago. Unfortunately, the excited part of it was 20% at best. She was eager to see her father and her nieces. She spared no expense with the Christmas presents this time around, not merely settling for sending gift cards to Ashley and Beverly. Even though the screams of "Auntie Allie" brought a smile to her face that she didn't always show, she didn't make enough visits to them to deserve such a reception. That was the nervous part she felt: the inevitable reactions of her brother, Michael III, for finally showing up for a holiday. That sort of thing didn't bother her that much in the past. Life was about the job, and family became secondary. She thought she was being a good sister by protecting them against God knows what as an agent. But like the many stories she heard before about being an agent…the lies, the anger, and the heartbreak that came with it…tended to rip families apart.

It was a much different story this particular Christmas. She cared deeply about her family now. And the more she began to care about her family, the more she hated herself for what she had to do to protect it. A small part of her wished that Agents Walker, Bartowski, Slade, and Colonel Casey never rescued her in Las Vegas. Things were different because of that. They had to be. She made a costly mistake. And in spite of the way she treated them, they still bailed her out and didn't even report her to Beckman. What all of them did inflicted many sinewy cracks in her armor, and then Slade broke them wide open in New York. Damn him, anyway. It was bad enough he had more talent than just about any agent she ever worked with and drove her wild in the bedroom like nobody had since John. But couldn't he at least be a LITTLE arrogant? She needed something to make her hate him, and he wouldn't provide it.

_Did you just complain about a guy for being a great agent, giving you earth-shattering orgasms, and being nice? You're certifiable, Alex_, she thought_. Completely certifiable._

She had to smile a bit. She told Jimmy she needed to keep her distance from him, and he did what she wanted. Unfortunately, an entire ocean still wasn't enough real estate.

She gently placed the large bag of wrapped gifts down and rang the doorbell. She could hear running and scampering on the other side of the door. Someone answered.

"Danni, good to see you."

"Alex, hi!" Mike's wife, Danielle, answered the door with the look of any harried wife and mother on Christmas Eve trying to prepare dinner for everyone. They hugged each other.

"How are you doing, or is that a bad question to ask?" Alex's smile took Danni back for a moment, since it was something Danni wasn't used to seeing.

"Doing great. Well, ask me that question after we have the girls in bed and I've cleaned up the place."

"Need some help?"

"I'd love it. I think you better make the rounds first. Dad and the girls have been waiting for you."

"No problem."

"Auntie Allie!!!!"

Danni gave her a tired smile. "Speaking of which…"

Two blurs of excitement came flying at Alex as Ashley and Beverly ran across the wood floor to hug their favorite, and only, aunt. Alex scooped them up in her arms and hugged them tight. Ashley was already playing the big sister role to perfection, always looking out for Beverly, who naturally resented it. Named for Alex's mother, who died while Danni was 7 months pregnant with her, Beverly was a bit quieter and stayed around her mother as much as she could.

"How are you two?"

"Great! Good! Did you bring us anything?" The two girls shouted in Alex's ears enough to hurt, but she didn't care.

"Now, is that the way to greet Aunt Allie?"

Ashley and Beverly looked down for a second. "No." Each of them gave Alex a kiss on the cheek nearest them. "So what did you bring us?"

Alex laughed. It was something that gnawed at her for many years, but she had put the luxury of family on the list of items to which she was not entitled. She made her decision to be an agent and left everything behind. She thought she had done the right thing. Everything reminded her too much of John, especially when Mike and Danni were married in 2002. A still-grieving fiancé combined with an open bar did not make for a good combination. To her credit, she stayed quiet and didn't make a spectacle of herself at their wedding. But there wasn't one person there who didn't know this was killing her inside. They had kind words for her, but she didn't want to be reminded of what she had lost 9 months earlier. The mementos were surrounding her, literally. She was supposed to be getting married right now, not watching her little brother's wedding.

"Can I go see Grandpa?" Alex asked her nieces. "Do you want to come with?" Both nodded in agreement. Alex carried them to the back of the house.

It was odd seeing the "library" part of Mike and Danni's house with a large, beat-up recliner in the middle of it and a large flat-screen TV on a shelf with law books surrounding it. A desk sat at the back of the library, complete with computer and mounds of paperwork. Clearly father and son agreed to timeshare the room.

"Hi Dad."

Michael Forrest II turned from the game he was watching. If it was sports or old detective shows, it was on his schedule to watch. "Alex, how are you, honey?"

Her father struggled to get up from the chair, and she walked to him and hugged him tightly. "Dad, come on. You don't have to get up."

"Oh quit worrying about me. It's you. Besides, I have to get my tired ass…sorry, my tired butt…out of the chair once in a while." He lowered his voice. "Mikey's got a drill sergeant for a wife. She gets on my case when I swear in front of the girls." He turned to Ashley and Beverly. "Girls, can you help Mommy in the kitchen while I talk with your auntie?"

Ashley and Beverly each gave their grandpa a kiss and ran out of the library.

"Hey, I don't blame her," Alex replied as the girls left. "I heard she went ballistic when you taught them 'pull my finger'. Uncles are supposed to do that. Grandparents are supposed to get them loaded up on sugar and dump them on the unsuspecting parents."

Her father settled back in the chair. "Oh, don't worry. I do plenty of that. She's still upset I let Ashley stay awake all the way through Game 5 of the '08 World Series. Clearly she's not a sports fan."

Alex took in the recliner her father used; the same one that was in their house for as long as she could remember. "Dad, seriously. Can I buy you a new recliner? They've got these huge leather ones now with a cooler in the side, and it massages you, too. This thing has been an eyesore since I was in grade school."

"There's nothing wrong with this chair. It's very comfortable."

"Dad, it's like an episode of _Frasier_ in here. It's bad enough you're an ex-cop who's got two grown, successful kids. Is some little dog named Eddie about to come scampering in?"

Suddenly a dog ran into the room and leaped onto her father. His smile lit up as he petted the dog, which proceeded to lick him within an inch of his life.

Alex shook her head and smiled. "At least it's a golden retriever and not a Jack Russell."

"Sunshine is her name. The girls begged and pleaded for a dog, and Mike and Danni got tired of telling them no."

"Let me guess," Alex replied with a bit of cynicism. "They promised to take care of him, and now that's your job."

"To be fair, he's a godsend. Your mother and I couldn't get one in our house with you two because you were always fighting. But Sunshine gets me outside. I walk her twice a day. I take the girls and her down to the park when Danni needs a break. It's good exercise."

Alex petted Sunshine, who insisted on trying to jump up and get more of a greeting. A huge smile slipped from Alex's face.

"I haven't seen that in a long while," her father said.

"What?"

"You. Smiling like that. You look a lot happier than you normally do. And I don't think Sunshine and the girls are causing that all by themselves."

"Just glad to have a few days off, Dad."

"Uh-uh. Don't try that on me, Alex. I knew when people were lying to me on the job. You never got Trevor past me. Come on."

Alex rolled her eyes. He knew about Trevor. And she thought she kept him a secret back when she was a senior in high school. How he still thinks she works for the FBI was beyond her comprehension.

"Work's a little better these days. Been on a few cases, found a few agents who really know their stuff. It's a lot easier to do the job when you know you can rely on your partners."

"That's good. Any of these new partners really good-looking? Funny?"

"Dad! You know dating another agent is against Bureau policy. They'd have a fit."

"Philadelphia P.D. didn't allow it, either. But I had to cover for a lot of people dating. They can have a fit all they want, but it'll still happen."

Alex smiled. She never could fool her dad. Although she was occasionally successful in changing a detail or two. Especially which particular branch of the government she worked for. "Well, this one guy is pretty cute. Really nice, too. But they've got him groomed for stardom. He's two years out of Quantico, and they're sending him everyplace."

Her father took her hand. "I'm glad, honey. You deserve someone. If it's this guy, don't let anything stand in your way. John was…well, it wasn't right that happened to you. But after all this time, you need to move forward. You're too pretty and too good of a person to not have someone."

_Gee, thanks Dad,_ Alex thought_. I'm trying to get James out of my mind, and you keep shoving him back in. _

"Dad, being an FBI agent isn't like being a cop. It's a lot more complicated than liking someone and deciding to go out with them."

"That's an excuse," her father replied with a bit of force she hadn't seen from him since before her mother died. "You want something bad enough, you make it work. If your mother and I didn't do that, you and Mike wouldn't even be here. She taught in the inner-city and I was a third-shift flatfoot in those early years. You two got to where you are because we made it work. We did what it took to make a good life for the two of you. And the best way you can pay that back is to not chicken out when you see something you want. I've seen too many people not try for what they want and then blame someone or something else for their lot in life. It better not happen with you."

Alex hung her head. Dad did have a point. But the memories of John still gave her a cold shiver. And the job she actually did, the one she couldn't tell anybody about, had no sympathy to what someone wanted for themselves. And all of the looks into those sweet blue eyes and all of those marvelous times in the bedroom would never make up for it. Jimmy had to be just another agent because she didn't know how else to live her life.

"Danni wanted me to help her in the kitchen. I'll see you in a few." Alex walked slowly out of the library, leaving her father to watch SportsCenter.

"What can I help you with, Danni?" Alex appeared in the kitchen, a bit humbled from her talk with her father.

Danni pointed to a cutting board full of vegetables. "Can you handle those?"

Alex smiled. Her skills with a knife would make Wolfgang Puck beam with pride. "I'll try my best." She started cutting the vegetables that were needed for the pot roast Danni was making.

"Are you OK, Alex?" Danni noticed Alex's downcast look.

"I'm OK. Where's Mike?"

"He should be on his way home by now. He had to pick up a few things at the office. He probably should have driven into downtown, but he thought SEPTA would be easier. I think that train is on a holiday schedule, though. How many people are in their offices today?"

Alex shrugged. Until this year, she was one of them. "The house looks beautiful. This is much nicer than what Mike and I grew up in."

"We got as lucky as you could get. Mike was made a partner in February, and they're just hip-deep in work. On the good side, being a partner means you're on the clock for $725 an hour. The house was sitting on the market for a year. I don't think Mike could have made a better offer on it. We crunched the numbers and got the 15-year mortgage. We'll have it paid off before the girls make it to college at the pace he's going." Danni laughed. "Of course, that doesn't mean we're not going to push the girls to get scholarships somewhere. Ashley does great in mathematics. She takes after you."

Alex laughed. She was the only good numbers person in the family, but that wasn't much of a compliment. "Well, that's the way to go. If you're female and you like science and engineering, colleges will trip over themselves to get you into the fold."

"Now if we can only get Bev to like numbers. But there's still time. She's only four. At least she likes to read. That's a battle we get to avoid."

"Lucky you." Alex looks toward the door, where Michael III would enter any moment. "I gather he's still not happy with me."

This time, it was Danni who hung her head. "I knew I married into a stubborn family, but even this is a bit much. He was tempted to not let you come over, but your father and I vetoed that in a heartbeat."

"I'm sorry, Danni. I certainly didn't want you dragged into this. The FBI even called him and told him what I was doing during my mother's funeral, and I offered to hire someone to look after Dad. I don't know why he insisted on taking him in. Maybe he just wants to justify carrying a grudge around when it comes to me."

"It's not all about you, Alex. I love that your dad is here. Although he insists on earning his keep, and it gets a little annoying sometimes trying to convince him we have a housecleaning service come in every week. But Mike is…well, you know how he is. You grew up with him."

"Yeah," Alex replied, more than a little weary of that particular subject. "We're just too bullheaded for our own good. I'm going to try and be nice tonight. For you, I promise."

The door opened, and Michael Forrest III walked through the door, shaking off the snow on his jacket as he entered. He went straight to the kitchen, and the look in his eyes told the story.

"Al." Mike let all of the derision he had towards seeing his older sister come out.

Alex glared at him and at his use of the one name she didn't like being called. "Junior," she replied with the name he didn't like being called, especially since it was their dad who would have that moniker.

She felt Danni's icy gaze bore through the back of her head. Alex turned her head to the side. "I said I would promise. I didn't say anything about being successful."

"Decided to show up this year? The FBI finally unchained you from the dungeon?"

"Mike! Enough." Danni replied in a none-too-friendly voice before Alex had a chance to escalate the situation. "Not a lot of people get to have family over, even at Christmas. We're going to enjoy ourselves tonight."

Mike exhaled, conceding he'd rather have no fights than two of them. "Where's Dad?"

Danni checked the time. "I would guess right now he's watching one of those sports talk shows on TV…"

"Where those morons don't know their ass from a hole in the wall," all three of them replied together, clearly repeating the same phrase their father used ad infinitum.

"Alex, I beg of you, no sports gifts for him this year," Danni pleaded.

"Oops," Alex replied. It was already too late. She thought this one would be epic.

"What?" Mike asked her with a wary gaze.

"I have a friend at the Bureau who knows someone in the NFL office. The Eagles have the London game next year against the Dolphins, so he contacted Jeffrey Lurie, and Lurie wants Dad in the skybox with him. Your gift was that, the hotel, and the airfare for all five of you."

"Great. Just what I need. The partners in the firm will love for me to take a week off when I just got promoted, and then we pull the girls out of school on top of it."

Alex's anger was rising. "Mike, get over it. Ashley can almost do calculus equations. One week off isn't going to hurt her. And people go on vacations from work all the time."

"Except you," he replied with a sneer. "God forbid you should ever do something besides work. Like, I don't know, drop in on your family once every 5 years, or attend an important event, like someone's funeral!"

"ENOUGH!" Danni's admonishment stopped the two siblings in their tracks. "I refuse to get in the middle of however many decades you two have been fighting. But this is my house and you won't fight here! We are going to have a pleasant family dinner tonight, and that means with you as well, Alex. And I don't want to hear another raised voice from either of you tonight!"

Alex and Mike let their respective anger dwindle down. Mike slowly left the kitchen with his shoulders slumped to check on his father. Alex went back to chopping vegetables.

The rest of the evening was one long, uncomfortable silence, broken only by the girls' excitement in opening the one gift they were allowed to open before Christmas morning. As she drove back to suburban D.C. later that night, Alex couldn't help but think how apropos it was for the streets to be empty at such a late hour on Christmas Eve. She felt the same way inside. Being alone at Christmas never bothered her before. She used to write it off as one of the sacrifices she made for this job. Being an agent meant giving up so much. The Christmas mornings she used to spend at home as a child were wonderful times, but she had since written them off as a piece of the past; a time when she was someone else. But this year came about and she tried to correct certain things about her past. She wanted to reconnect; to be at least partially-human again. She did a little of that in New York 6 weeks ago and was successful. Reconnecting with her family, however, was a failure. Keeping her distance from Jimmy Slade would be easy, given that he agreed to do that for her. The schism between her brother and her was a much different story.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
6:45 AM**_

Alex slowly stirred in the bed. She didn't want to get up, but obviously work would intervene whether she wanted it to or not. It was as relaxed as she had been in almost two months. She conveniently chose to ignore the fact that the reason she was relaxed now was the same reason she was relaxed then. The good news was Jimmy wasn't underneath the sheets trying to get her off again. The bad news was, he was spooned against her and had his arms wrapped around her.

The worse news was, she was holding his arms and keeping him in place while trying to press as much of her body against his as she could.

Her agent side wanted to plunge a knife into her heart for being this way with someone else. She could only be an effective agent by using the cold detachment that she developed over the years which served her well. She couldn't be this close to someone and be successful.

Her human side wanted to jump on top of him and ride him for all he was worth.

She couldn't get enough of him. Every lovemaking session …_sex, not lovemaking_, she reminded herself…was better than the last. He was becoming more and more adept at knowing what gave her the greatest pleasure. Whatever she wanted, she got. It was driving her crazy. Guys like this don't exist, and they sure as hell aren't attracted to women like her.

Jimmy was starting to awaken. He opened his eyes to see the position the two of them were in. He noticed he was holding her in his arms.

"Oh, sorry. That's probably way outside of acceptable boundaries in the bedroom with you."

Alex smiled. "I'm holding your arms in place. I think I'm just as much to blame here."

"Well, if you like this, I certainly won't object to it. It's very pleasant on my end."

Alex reached back to feel what was poking her. "Gee, you think? James, you got the sex drive of a frat boy on a panty raid."

Jimmy's eyes darted back and forth. "I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult."

She laughed. "Most definitely a compliment. Guys are supposed to be at their sexual peak then, aren't they?"

"So I've heard. But I cannot take any responsibility for whatever that does during the night. And since you haven't let go yet, I'm not taking responsibility for anything that happens now."

"Mmmm, maybe I want something to happen," Alex purred. "I can't have all the fun. I gotta give you a little something for your generous contributions to improving my sex life last night. I'm supposed to be at my sexual peak as well, and you've been more than kind in relieving me of my tension."

"That is a very tempting thought, but I think they're expecting me on board the _Stockton_ soon."

Alex pushed him gently onto his back and slid her naked form on top of his. She kept a tight grip on him as she grinded her body against his.

"I need to shower and I have to find the right uniform to wear today," Jimmy said as Alex started kissing and licking his chest.

"I have a database set up on my laptop to categorize the different departments and who is in charge of what."

"Mm-hmmm," was Alex's muffled response as she glided her breasts against his chest while licking and nibbling his neck.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "You're not even listening to me."

"Not one bit."

Jimmy sat up in the bed. "You're going to make me take you in the shower?"

Alex slid her legs across Jimmy's waist and locked them tightly around him. Her tongue played inside of his mouth. "Does that answer your question?"

He smirked. "Is that all I am to you? Some big toy you can play with?"

She looked into his eyes, flicked her tongue at the tip of his nose, and grinned. "Of course."

"OK, just want to know where I stand." Jimmy walked to the shower with Alex wrapped firmly around him.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
8:00 AM**_

Jimmy was fixing the uniform shirt the CIA provided him for his disguise that would get him wherever he needed on the _Stockton_. He checked himself a million times in the mirror, making sure there wasn't one wrinkle. Everything appeared in place. He looked down at his shoes and made sure his reflection was looking back at him. He didn't want a single thing to be amiss.

Alex emerged from the bathroom in a business suit with her hair held up by several bobby pins in the back. She watched Jimmy fuss with his attire.

"Would you relax? I don't even think you have a split end in your hair."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. He hated how she bugged him, no matter how correct she was. "I want to make sure I don't do anything that tips off I'm not a naval officer."

Alex turned him to her. "You look fine. You look very military." She gave him a kiss.

He smiled. "What are your plans for Seo Chang-Hee today?" Alex was kissing along his neck and not paying attention. "Do you have plans for him, or should I just take off my clothes again?"

That finally stopped her. She laughed. "Sorry. It's out of my system now. I promise. It's been a bit stressful the last two months, and my only outlet has been, well, you. As for Chang-Hee, the local office hasn't picked up any new chatter."

"Will you be able to intercept his phone? Figure out where he is online on his computer?"

"The office is working on that. But it's always a chess game with the North Koreans when it comes to technology. They get their stuff through China and Russia, so they can usually keep up pretty well."

"Sounds like I should be helping you. I'm reasonably good at technology."

"Not necessary, James. There are plenty of people in the CIA who can handle technology, and there are a lot of people who can kick ass. What they really need are more people like you: someone who can do both. Half the reason I wanted you in New York was to do the techno stuff without me having to protect you at the same time. The other half…will be continued once this mission is over."

"Fair enough. Keep me updated on anything you find. Hopefully, the bowels of the ship won't mess with the signal on my mobile phone. I'm meeting with Admiral Carter in twenty minutes."

"See you tonight. We'll have dinner and discuss what we found."

"See you then." Jimmy grabbed her and gave her a heated kiss. "And now I have it out of my system, too."

He walked out of the suite, leaving a surprised and grinning Alex Forrest in his wake.

_**USS Stockton  
January 7, 2011  
8:30 AM**_

Jimmy walked crisply to the quarters of Admiral Carter. He returned the salute the guard standing outside the door gave him and waited until Admiral Carter granted him permission to enter. He walked inside and saluted the admiral.

"Have a seat, son. What's your plan for today?"

Jimmy sat down on the couch opposite the chair in which Carter was sitting. "My first order of business, sir, is to check through the logs in the computers and analyze the databases where information from the sonar array is recorded. See if anything looks out of the ordinary. I'll also leaf through the paper files on the duty logs for the CIC for the last three weeks. You said the problems began about that time, is that correct sir?"

"Right on target, Murdock."

"I'll also ask a few off-the-record questions of some of the people in there."

"Do you have any candidates in mind? Anybody stick their neck out last night?"

"I didn't find anything of consequence, sir."

"Son, you sound like you're giving me a lot of D.C. bullshit. I can already smell the stench across the country from those bureaucratic bitches. Don't add to it. Give it to me straight-up. It won't leave this room."

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. Perhaps he needed to follow what the admiral said. Anybody who could call General Beckman "Little D" and get away with it could probably be trusted. "Your fears were likely correct, sir. Another agent tracked a North Korean operative to San Diego. She's got eyes on him right now. This is only speculation, but it would seem we have a buyer and a product. We just need to find the seller."

"Son of a bitch. Truthfully, Murdock, I had hoped I was just being paranoid. But I guess I'm only paranoid 'cause everyone's out to get me. Any ideas on which of my crew might be doing this?"

"The only person who stood out last night was a Lieutenant Hansen. I'm not sure who he was with. I figured it was his girlfriend. But they were having a bit of an argument. Seems a bit odd to be fighting with your girlfriend while on liberty. I would think you'd put your arguments aside and get busy instead, if you'll pardon my French, sir."

Carter exhaled deeply. "Ah, I think I know what that's about. Hansen's been under a lot of stress lately. His folks had their house foreclosed. His old man got laid off, fuckin' economy, and Hansen tried to keep making the mortgage as long as he could. You know how that goes. They're living in his tiny apartment now. He's been dating someone for about six months, but obviously that hasn't reduced his stress much."

Jimmy sat back for a moment. "Forgive me for making an unfounded accusation, sir, but money is a pretty good motivating factor. He might be desperate enough to do this."

"Maybe. But I can't believe he'd commit treason just to save his folks' house. He's a good kid."

"Unless he doesn't think he's committing treason."

"What do you mean?"

"You certainly wouldn't go up to someone and introduce yourself as a spy for an unfriendly government. If I was working for the North Koreans, I would sell myself as someone who worked here in the States, maybe for a big computer company. I'd pretend I was having trouble with some software product and ask if I could get a peek at the way someone else does something. Kind of like copying off of someone else's paper for only one or two questions. He figures that he's not giving all of our secrets away, so that wouldn't be a big deal."

"But how would he even communicate? All of the ship's calls and outgoing emails are tracked and everybody knows it."

"There could be someone else involved, like a girlfriend. Maybe she does the face-to-face work. The CIA is monitoring calls right now, so we hope to have some answers as the day progresses. I'll get information on his girlfriend and have the San Diego office set up a tap. Meanwhile, maybe I can find something on the computers here."

The admiral rose and Jimmy quickly rose with him. "Then get to it, son. Find me some answers. I want a status report at 1300 hours."

"Yes, sir." Jimmy gave the admiral a sharp salute.

"Don't have to do that in here, son. You ain't in the Navy."

"I'd say you've earned it, sir, from any person." Jimmy quickly left the room and headed for the CIC.

_**San Diego, CA  
January 7, 2011  
9:00 AM**_

Alex Forrest walked quickly into the CIA's satellite office. The San Diego office was one of the smaller branch offices the CIA had, but they had a reputation as an office that did a lot with a little. The office director greeted her at the door. She knew Roxanne Whelan by reputation only. Roxie was a tough character and could get anybody to give up any information she wanted. Unfortunately, her career as a field agent was cut short by an attack by a group of Basque separatists who didn't appreciate the information she and 4 other agents were feeding to the Spanish government. For her troubles, she was paralyzed from the waist down by a hail of gunfire. But her four partners were still alive and kicking because of her. The CIA wanted her to run the much larger office in Los Angeles again and again, but as she constantly told them, she was a Chargers fan.

"Agent Forrest, a pleasure," Roxie greeted her in her wheelchair.

"Director Whelan, thank you for your help with this case."

"Roxie's fine with me. It's hard to make you call me Director Whelan after what you did for us in New York."

"Thanks. It was a team effort. And it's Alex."

"This way, Alex."

Alex followed behind Director Whelan to several computers set up in a room next to her office. The office was quite sparse, with only four computers and a small server set up. There was only one chair in the room and a twenty something man sitting at one of the computers who needed some immediate lessons in acceptable office attire.

"Wyatt, this is Agent Alex Forrest. She's the lady you're working for right now. Alex, this is Wyatt Edison, I.T. extraordinaire and perpetual virgin."

Alex's eyes widened slightly. She wasn't sure what was more disconcerting: a young, horny geek working for the Agency or a female boss with no mental filter of any kind.

"Wyatt, give Agent Forrest your report," Whelan said with a bit of authority.

"There's not much to tell thus far. We don't think he's been online at his hotel. Even if he put a block on his computer to scramble what he was looking for or typing, we'd be able to detect if he got online at the very least. So far, he hasn't. His mobile phone, unfortunately, is the bad part. He's got some new technology on it I haven't been able to hack so far. We can go old school and pick up the list of phone numbers that bounce off any cell tower he's near, but that would take time, and we could only get you phone numbers at best."

"Correction," Forrest replied. "You can get numbers and the person on the other end of the line. That's better than nothing. If he uses his mobile, anything you can give me would be helpful."

"Wyatt, get on the phone to the local cell phone companies," Whelan ordered. "I want to talk to them myself. I'll get you the authorization. Meanwhile, stay on him."

"Will do, boss."

"This way, Alex," the director gestured towards her office. Alex stayed one step behind Roxie's wheelchair as she went further down the hall and entered her small but very organized office.

"Wyatt's OK for the most part," Whelan said in a quiet voice so it wouldn't carry down the hallway. "He knows his way around a computer, but he's got the maturity level of a four-year-old. Actually, that's an insult to four-year-olds. I swear to God, the next time I find porn on one of the hard drives here, I'll cut off his hands and end his career and sex life at the same time."

Alex gave a slight laugh. Clearly the separatists didn't have enough bullets to kill someone this tough. "Beckman thinks Seo Chang-Hee might be in the mood to buy some technology and bring it over to North Korea, and I would theorize coming here means something from the U.S. Navy."

"A valid theory, I would say. If that's the case, we have to be dealing with at least two sellers: one who has the access to the technology and someone to be a go-between."

Alex nodded. "We have another agent undercover on board the _Stockton_ right now. We think it may have to do with their new sonar array. I'm sure North Korea would be more than happy to get their hands on that."

"Indeed. Although compared to New York, this should be a cakewalk for you."

Alex looked up at the ceiling. "It's pretty ironic we work for the CIA and yet everybody seems to know about that mission."

"You and your partner had to jump on a subway train to retrieve the bomb. That's a movie script right there. It's hard to keep that secret. I'll bet you wish that guy was working with your now. You'd have this case completed in a day."

"It's funny you should mention that…"

"Is he?"

"He's checking the computers on the _Stockton_ even as we speak. It turns out we were working the same case from different sides."

"You just have to love this business sometimes. What's his name? Roger Murtaugh?"

"Murdock."

"Murdock?" Whelan did a search on her computer. "Oh, right. Got my _Airplane_ and _Lethal Weapon_ movies mixed up."

Jimmy's file and photograph appeared on the director's computer. "Wow, nice. He's hot. I'd like to tap that."

Alex's mouth dropped open. Her roommate at Quantico, Tamara, was the last woman she remembered who talked so brash about men. She was afraid to tell Roxie that she was already 'tapping that'.

"Well, I'm sure he has a girlfriend somewhere. Guys like that are almost never on the open market."

Roxie raised a devilish eyebrow and grinned. "Well, if he's working in my sector, I should probably meet with him and make sure he's up to standard. Check if all the parts are working."

The two women share a laugh. "OK, Alex. Take my card and we'll keep you apprised of what your man is doing. I'll keep on Wyatt's ass to make sure you have up to date information."

"Thank you, Roxie." The two women shook hands, and Alex left the office. She drove to the hotel where Seo Hang-Chee was staying. As far as she knew, he had not left his room. At the very least, he had not left the hotel. The San Diego office had the hotel's phone system tapped, so he couldn't call anybody that way without them knowing about it. The problem still remained his mobile phone. If Wyatt couldn't hack into his phone, going off of phone company records could slow the search down considerably. She had to hope they would get lucky.

_**USS Stockton  
January 7, 2011  
11:30 AM**_

Jimmy finished checking the computer logs in the CIC and was cataloging several discrepancies he found with the data. He wasn't certain, but it did look like there were several brief interruptions in the program as it recorded data that should not have occurred. A look through the online duty logs indicated a similar pattern. It wouldn't have been obvious to someone unless they were looking for such anomalies in the tables of information. It appeared someone altered the log records in a pattern that followed the interruptions in the sonar array program. Finally, all of those years learning computers to try and eke out a living have paid off.

He made several notes on his laptop and looked through the personnel records. His search yielded ten people on the crew who could have altered the personnel records and nine who worked on the array over the three shifts. 6 of those people could have done both. He wasn't certain if he was looking for one person, two people, or perhaps more. However, on a ship with over 600 crewmembers, this significantly narrowed the search.

"Find everything you need, sir?"

Jimmy looked up to see Lieutenant Andre Hansen standing in front of him. _Now that's a helluva coincidence,_ Jimmy thought. He had to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I'm good, Lieutenant, thanks. I appreciate you checking up on me." Jimmy paused for a moment. "Everything OK? You look a little upset."

"I'm fine, sir."

"I'm pretty sure I saw you last night at the social in the NEX. I think you were dancing with…ah, it was a brunette, right? Short, looked a bit like Zooey Deschanel? I don't really remember."

"Yes, sir. That was my girlfriend, Dana Mackey."

"Oh, OK. Forgive me for overstepping my bounds, but you didn't appear in much of a good mood last night, either. Not a good thing when you have some time off."

"It's was nothing, sir," was the clipped response. "Just a few 'couple' issues."

Jimmy put his hands up. "I apologize. I don't mean to pry."

"Not a problem, sir." Hansen left. Jimmy sat there for a moment. He wasn't sure if this was a good lead, but certainly Hansen would not meet with Seo Chang-Hee directly; someone else would meet with him. Perhaps Dana was in on this.

Jimmy started to make his way out of the CIC and off the ship. He had a meeting with Admiral Carter in just over an hour. If this was a good lead, he wanted to make sure Carter knew about it.

_**San Diego, CA  
January 7, 2011  
12:00 PM**_

Alex stayed in her car outside of Chang-Hee's hotel, waiting for something to happen. Her ringing mobile phone might turn out to be that something. She checked the Caller ID and took note of the number with a 619 area code.

"Alex Forrest."

"It's Wyatt Edison. We have a hit on that phone. We're tracking the number right now. We should have a name for you in a few minutes."

"Excellent. Forward that information to Agent Murdock as soon as you get it, and call me back."

"You got it."

Alex hung up her phone and sat up in the driver's seat of her rental. The heavy foot traffic coming in and out of the hotel made it impossible to determine if someone was trying to meet with him now. Without a name to go with the number, getting the correct person would be impossible.

After 15 minutes, Alex's phone rang again. It was a slightly different number than before, but it was still from the 619 area code.

"Alex Forrest."

"This is Whelan. We have a name to go with the number. A Dana Mackey talked to Seo Chang-Hee from 11:50 to 11:55."

"That's quick work on the name, Roxie. You guys are good."

"Actually, Agent Murdock gave us the name, and we confirmed it was her mobile phone."

"You talked to him?"

"He provided the name to Wyatt when we were updating him, and he asked Wyatt to check mobile phone records for her calls over the last 3 weeks. It saved us a lot of grief when the phone call popped up."

"Can you get me a full file on her?"

"Already doing that. I've got undercover units from the San Diego P.D. on the way to stake out her house and workplace."

"OK, we don't want to burn this lead. They should observe and report, but not intervene. Forward the file on her to the Loews hotel under the name Commander Paul Purcell. We'll be back there later to check it out. I'll stay on Seo Chang-Hee. Can you let Agent Murdock know?"

"As soon as I get off the phone with you, Alex."

"Thanks for all of your help, Roxie."

"Glad to do it."

The phone hung up, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. They now had a working lead, thanks to Jimmy and the San Diego office. Perhaps working with Jimmy again wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Finish this case and move on. A little fun afterward wouldn't hurt, either.

Ten minutes later, her phone rang once again. This time, no number popped up on the ID. She answered it.

"Hello?"

As she listened to the other end of the line, a cold shiver made its way down her body and she was suddenly in a fog. She was trembling.

"OK," was the quiet reply after a minute. She was shaking all over and tears were coming to her face. If her mind was focused, she would have made some phone calls first.

But the news she found out sent her mind reeling. She started the car and exited the hotel's parking lot.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
6:00 PM**_

Jimmy exited the elevator on the 16th floor and walked down to his suite. He opened the door.

"Alex, are you here?"

He took a look around the room. A large envelope sat on the desk with his cover name on it. No doubt that was the file on Dana Mackey that the San Diego office compiled for Alex and him.

"Alex?"

Jimmy dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail. He hung up the phone.

He looked around nervously. She had dressed in the suite this morning. However, neither her clothes nor her suitcase was in the room. He booted his computer and did some checking. Her rental car had been returned to the airport

_What the hell?_

Jimmy got on his phone again. "Alex, it's Jimmy. Call me the second you get this. I don't care if it's 4 in the morning. I'm wondering where you are."

He sat there for several minutes. It was completely unlike Alex to do this. Hell, it was completely unlike any agent to do this. It didn't appear she was kidnapped; otherwise her suitcase and rental car would still be here. She left of her own accord. But where? And why?

She also picked a bad time to do it. They now had three people to observe, and he could only be in so many places at once. He thought of calling the San Diego office, but they were stretched thin as it was, and they would ask questions. He didn't want to get Alex in trouble until there was reason to do so.

He needed help. And there were only a few people he could call for help.

He dialed a number on his phone.

"Hello?" a very familiar female voice on the other end of the line said.

"Sarah, it's Jimmy."

"Jimmy! How are you? We haven't heard from you in four months! And I want to have a few words with you about that Christmas present!"

"Sarah, come on. That was nothing. I had a few connections."

"Trust me, Chuck and I made complete and total use of it. It was a wonderful gift."

"I'm sorry I haven't called sooner, but they're running me ragged at Langley."

"So I've heard. First New York, then London. Where are you now?"

"San Diego."

There was a pause on the end of the phone. "You mean you and Alex…"

"We're working on the same case."

"I'll be she was surprised to see you."

"You could say that. But she got over it rather quickly."

"I'll bet. She got over it and under you."

Jimmy had to laugh. "It's been a crazy four months. I can't lie."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Actually, that's why I'm calling. She's gone."

"What? Did someone capture her?"

"I don't think so. I checked a few things, and it looks like she left on her own."

"Did she tell you?"

"No, and I don't understand why. It must have been a spur of the moment decision."

"I can check on a few things for you."

"Actually, I need a lot more than that. She left at a bad time. We have several people to observe on this case, and I need an extra set of eyes. I don't want to alert the office until I know why she left. I don't want to get her in trouble. I know this is asking a lot, but are you Chuck, and Casey available to give me a hand? San Diego is only a couple of hours away, right?"

"Jimmy, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but Chuck and Casey are coming back from Stanford and should be here in 30 minutes. Beckman has a new assignment for us already."

"That's OK. I can figure something else out."

"Let me make a few calls. I might be able to find you an extra set of eyes. I can call in a few favors. I probably know a lot more people in the Agency than you."

Jimmy gave a slight laugh. "That wouldn't take much. I only know you three. I'm at the Loews Hotel in Coronado under the name Commander Paul Purcell."

"OK, I'll get right on it."

"Thanks, Sarah. I owe you big time."

"Oh, you do not. Be safe, Jimmy."

"You, too."

Jimmy hung up the phone. He ordered room service from the hotel. He studied the file on Dana Mackey while trying Alex's number every few minutes. Unfortunately, it kept going directly to voicemail. The alarm was starting to rise within him. He thought he would be concerned about any partner. But he knew his worry was for more than just a partner. A lot more.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
10:30 PM**_

Jimmy completed his tenth reading of the file on Dana Mackey when there was a knock on his door. He approached the door carefully with his gun out. He opened the door, hiding the gun behind it as he saw the person standing there.

"Hello, Jimmy. Sarah sent me to give you a hand."

Jimmy put his gun away. There was no way someone could know his real name without talking to Sarah. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

He extended his hand. "I'm Jimmy Slade."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Carina Miller," she replied, shaking his hand. "Sarah nailed your description just about right. Actually, she usually exaggerates a bit on what guys look like. Not this time. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Jimmy smiled. "I'm glad you're here. You are definitely a sight for sore eyes."

Jimmy walked back to the desk to grab the folder on Dana Mackey. Carina looked him up and down very slowly.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," she said quietly to herself.


	3. Things Not Covered in the Manual

_Hello. Glad you stopped by Chapter 3 of the story. I'm not sure how, but I've tried to stick to these one-chapter-per-week deadlines. Not an easy thing to do. What's shocking me are the lengths of the chapters. One minute I'm struggling for ideas, the next minute I'm up at 3 in the morning typing away furiously._

_The suggestion was made by TwotoTenth that I should point out that if you want to read more about Alex Forrest's back story, it is in my ChuckMeMondays Challenge story under the chapter "Chuck vs. the Broken Heart." It fills in a few details, especially about her fiance, John O'Shea. Therefore, I am following his sage advice._

_This chapter will get interesting and a bit angsty. There's a little bit of mature dialogue, but nothing worse than you've seen already. As always, please leave reviews._

_Thanks!_

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Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
10:40 PM

Carina watched Jimmy bound around the room, attempting to gather information. She had been in this business long enough to recognize that Jimmy Slade must have been a brand new agent. He was too nervous and too friendly. It was also obvious he took this job far too seriously. Agents like that could be a huge asset or a tremendous liability. It was a crapshoot to see which way the pendulum swung. She hoped, based on Sarah knowing who Jimmy was, that he was in the first category. She might have had a few days off to spare, but driving down to help another agent out of the blue was definitely something she would not have done for anybody but Sarah.

Although she had to admit helping an agent who looked like Jimmy Slade would not be nearly as onerous as she first thought.

Sarah gave her a minimal amount of information regarding him. As she was also preparing for a new mission, Sarah didn't have much time. She told Carina that Jimmy was working on an important case in San Diego and needed an extra person to help out. Carina pressed her for more personal details about Jimmy as only she could. Sarah restricted herself to saying Jimmy was 6 feet tall, black hair, blue eyes, and built like a linebacker. Sarah almost pleaded with Carina to act less like her normal self. What alarmed her was that Sarah used the phrase "total sweetheart" when describing a spy. That may have been a historical first for anybody in the Agency. But looking at Jimmy now, perhaps it was an accurate one after all.

"I'm sorry that you had to be pulled off of whatever you were doing or vacation time. I'm in a bit of a tough spot here. We just picked up some good intel on this mission, and I need some help."

"No problem," Carina replied carefully, trying to assess Jimmy. "I probably owe Sarah more than a favor or two and this one sounded easy enough. How long have you been working for the Agency? I've never heard of you."

"A while," Jimmy replied, trying to be a bit cryptic. He wasn't sure how much others were allowed to know about him. He also didn't want to make her think he was totally incompetent. What was the famous saying? Better to remain silent and let people think you're a fool rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt?

"How do you know Sarah?"

"We worked together a couple of times. Casey, Chuck, and she helped me with a case a few months back."

Carina walked around the room and peeked into the bedroom. She only saw one set of luggage but noticed more than a few things.

"So, who is your partner? Where is she?"

Jimmy looked at her in surprise. "What makes you think my partner is a woman?"

"Good. You phrased that so you didn't give the answer away. Most people would forget to do that. However, there are three sets of footprints imbedded on the bedroom carpet, one of which is a very expensive pair of size seven shoes. Jimmy Choo's would be my guess. One light set of sneakers, obviously the housecleaning person, and a very large pair of men's dress shoes; I'd say size 16 to 18." Carina looked Jimmy up and down with more than a few thoughts on her mind. "Your shoes, very likely."

Carina walked back to Jimmy. "Also, I seriously doubt either you or the housecleaning person wears perfume by Jean Patou. Either your partner has very expensive tastes or she thinks it turns you on." She got to within mere inches of Jimmy. "Therefore, back to my original questions. Who is your partner, and where is she?"

Jimmy suddenly noticed the rock on his left side and the hard place on his right. He didn't know what his relationship with Alex truly was. For that matter, he didn't even know what a relationship was. "She an agent for the CIA, and she's indisposed right now."

"So, what is your relationship to her? It doesn't look like either of you slept on the couch last night."

"Just maintaining a cover. That way, the hotel doesn't question her walking in and out of here."

"I'm sure," Carina replied, not even trying to cover her disbelief of what Jimmy said. Perhaps it was time for a more professional tact. "What do you need me to do?"

She could see Jimmy visibly relax. He handed her the folder the office created for him. "This is the workup on a Dana Mackey. Her boyfriend is Lieutenant Hansen aboard the _USS Stockton_. We have intel that a North Korean agent may be trying to obtain software from that ship, and we have reason to believe Mackey is making the deal happen. San Diego P.D. is keeping an eye on her, but there haven't been any new developments so far. I've been onboard the _Stockton_ trying to determine if the software has been tampered with and who might have done it."

"You want me to keep an eye on her and see if she'll talk?"

"Keep an eye on her, yes. But Mackey called the North Korean agent, Seo Chang-Hee, earlier today. We don't have the details of that call yet, but the length of it would suggest they intend to meet face-to-face. We have to let that meeting go through to see what's going on. Following her is probably our best chance of that. I'll be back on the _Stockton_ tomorrow to narrow the list down. Obviously Lt. Hansen is a prime suspect, but I need to find out if anybody else is involved. There are still a few possibles on the list."

Carina took a quick glance through the file and handed it back to Jimmy. She shrugged. "Sounds easy enough. Anything else?"

"That's pretty much it for now." Jimmy walked towards the phone. "Should I call downstairs and get you a room?"

"Not at all," Carina replied with a smile. "I can make do in this room."

"No problem. It's all yours." Jimmy sat down at the desk to read the file again. Carina walked with her bag into the large bedroom where Jimmy's clothes already were. He looked up.

"Oh. If you want the big bed, that's fine. I can sleep in the other room."

Carina emerged from the bedroom and looked at him. "I thought you were just maintaining a cover."

"Well…well, that's true…" Jimmy stammered.

"Then there should be no problem with us being in the same bedroom for cover purposes as well, right?"

"OK," he replied, clearly uncomfortable with what was going on. "You have a point."

Carina walked to the desk. "Are you sure you're OK? You look rather nervous."

"I'm fine," Jimmy lied through his teeth.

"It doesn't seem like it." Carina walked behind Jimmy and placed her hands on his shoulders. She started massaging them. "You are very tightly-wound. I would need a jackhammer to break through on your shoulders. I've never seen an agent as tense as you."

"It'll be OK. Maybe I'm overworked."

"I'm not buying that." Carina kneeled down so her lips were level with Jimmy's ear. Her voice was a sultry whisper.

"Based on the barely-touched room service, I would say you've been in this suite most of the evening worrying about something. You're still in the clothes you wore all day. And you're reading a file I'm guessing you've read ten times already. Nervous agents are dangerous agents. They tend to trip over themselves and make costly mistakes."

Carina slid her hands slowly over Jimmy's chest. "And if I'm working with you, that puts me at risk as well. So perhaps we need to do something to help you relax."

Her hand slid down Jimmy's stomach and proceeded lower. "If you're not really in a relationship, like you said, I have a few suggestions that always work for me." She pulled on his earlobe with her teeth, and he bolted out of the chair.

"Um, actually, I think I left something down in the car. I'll be right back." He quickly exited the suite. Carina smirked when she saw his car keys next to the computer. She got out her mobile phone.

_**Koi Restaurant, West Hollywood  
**__**January 7, 2011  
**__**11:00 PM PST**_

Chuck, Sarah, and Casey were staked out in the restaurant at various locations, attempting to find their mark for the evening. It felt like something of a cliché that Casey was pretending to be a bartender, Sarah was a server, and he was a busboy, but this was the only way they could get close to the mark's table and plant the listening and tracking device. Clichéd methods also tended to be the most reliable ones. They could alternate watching the door to see their target for the evening enter.

Sarah made her way back to the kitchen when her iPhone vibrated. She checked the caller ID, and let out a sigh when she saw it was Carina. She quickly walked out the back of the restaurant.

"What's going on, Carina? I'm on an assignment right now."

"Who is this guy, Sarah? When did the CIA get into the habit of hiring priests to do their dirty work?"

"Carina, I told you. He's a really good guy. He needs some help with a mission. You were just lying around Del Mar anyway. Can't you play nice for once?"

"That's what I was trying to do," Carina replied with a hint of desire.

"I don't mean YOUR definition of 'playing nice.' Just help him with his assignment."

"How come you never mentioned him before? I was with you for two weeks last year when you helped me with the Stromberg mission."

"At that time, I thought he was dead," Sarah replied tiredly. She was in the middle of a mission herself, and even a phone call from her best friend was an inconvenience. "Chuck, Casey, and I encountered him back in October, 2009. He helped us take out the Ring installation in Los Angeles, and we thought he died trying to save us. He didn't, and the CIA made him an agent. So could you please do me this favor? He's very special to all of us. Just watch him for me, will you?"

"Watch him? Sarah, the guy looks as if he downs caffeine pills like Tic-Tac's! Attach him to a transformer, and he could power the entire state of California with his nervous energy."

"Perhaps he's worried because his partner is missing? Or maybe you're making him nervous as only you can do? When he's on the mission, he'll be good to go. That's when he really shines. For now, just leave him alone. Don't be…you."

Carina exhaled in frustration. "Fine. For you, I'll do that."

"Thank you," Sarah replied with some exasperation as she hung up her iPhone and returned to the restaurant area.

Carina looked towards the door where Jimmy exited a little while ago. Likening him to a priest was a bit of a stretch. Jimmy was more straitlaced than even the most devout priest. She had to concede she was ready to go the full _Thorn Birds_ on Jimmy. Partly because she had to calm him down somehow; partly because Sarah's assessment of men had gotten a lot better lately.

_**Bryn Mawr Medical Center, Philadelphia  
January 7, 2011  
11:30 PM EST**_

Alex Forrest all but sprinted down the hallways of the emergency ward, looking for a nurse's station or someone she recognized. If not for the bumpy flight from San Diego to Philadelphia forcing her to stay in her seat, she would have almost certainly paced up and down the aisle the entire way.

Turning the corner, she spotted Danni in the hallway. Danni rose, but the relief of seeing Alex didn't abate the tears streaming down her eyes. The two hugged.

"I'm so glad you're here. I'm surprised you were able to get here so fast."

"There was a flight routed through Dallas, and I got lucky. How is he?"

"The doctors say it's not good. He was with the girls and me at the park. He was helping Ashley build a snowman when he just collapsed. They said it was a massive stroke. Even if he recovers, he'll be in very bad shape."

Alex could feel the same shaking she felt when Danni called her earlier to tell her about her father. The last 8 hours were as helpless as she had ever felt in her life. Worse than being tortured, worse than being held captive for 5 months in Afghanistan.

She slowly approached the door to where her father was being treated. Seeing him with an oxygen mask covering his face and leads attached to his body shook her to her core. This wasn't how she wanted to see her father. She knew this could happen, as he was going to be 70 later this year. But to see the person who raised her, the man who spent over three decades protecting the streets of Philadelphia, in this condition was almost impossible to handle.

Alex turned back to Danni. "Where's Mike?"

"He went home to check on the girls. One of our neighbors watched them tonight. You can imagine they were shaken up seeing that happen to Grandpa."

Alex nodded. "You should be with them. I can stay here. I'll call you if anything changes."

"Are you sure, Alex? I have no problem staying with you."

Alex took her hand. "It's OK. You have a lot to do at home. The girls need you."

Alex and Danni hugged, and Danni slowly walked down the hall. Alex checked her mobile phone. The battery was dead, and there was almost no signal inside the hospital. She timidly entered the room. She took a seat next to her father and gently took his hand. She looked at him, still unable to register in her mind that something like this could happen to him. An irrational-but-hopeful part of her mind prayed that her father could feel her holding his hand and derive some strength from it as he did for her so many times as a child when she was frightened by bad thunderstorms or noises in her bedroom. She had spent the last nine years burying her emotions deep inside of her. Keeping herself from feeling any sort of joy or pain helped her as an agent but destroyed her as a human being. She was good at it for so many years, not showing any emotion or the slightest hint of compassion towards someone else.

All of it came rushing up on her at that moment. She put her head down on the bed, resting it on her father's hand, and cried.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 7, 2011  
11:10 PM PST**_

_What the hell is going on?_

Jimmy slowly made his way back to the suite. He figured Carina didn't buy his story about going to the car, and he didn't care. Less than six hours ago, everything was going according to plan. Alex got her hands on important information, he found the anomalies in the computer system, and they could have had wrapped this mission up in a day or two at the latest. But now Alex was gone with no explanation, he was afraid to contact Beckman and make a bad situation worse, and one of Sarah's friends is trying to get him into bed?

He may have been a fairly new agent, but he figured that an enemy of the United States being the least of your troubles was not the most ideal situation.

He was worried about Alex. There was no evidence to suggest foul play was involved in her disappearance. What would make her not only leave in the middle of a mission but also not tell him about it? Perhaps she didn't have time. More likely, whatever happened was traumatic enough for her to not think of telling her partner. That last thought made him shiver. She was as unflappable of a person as Jimmy had ever seen in his life, even more unflinching than Casey. It would take a significant act to make her do what she did. Did someone close to her die? She never mentioned if she had any family. He never had enough time to find anything out about her. Their collective conversations revolved primarily around either stopping threats or ripping each other's clothes off.

For now, he would have to work as best as he could. He would get the information from the _Stockton_ and hope this Carina Miller could get some intel regarding the impending meeting between Seo Chang-Hee and Dana Mackey. As for Alex, he was certain she had a good reason for doing what she did. But not knowing anything made concentrating on the case next to impossible.

He slowly entered the suite. He looked around, but he did not see Carina anyplace. He glanced towards the bedroom Alex and he occupied the prior night. The door was open, and Carina was asleep. Apparently, she wasn't one to wear clothes to bed. A few of the bed sheets were pulled on top of her, but it was obvious she slept naked. He had no idea women did that for anything other than post-coital reasons. Unless that was the idea. He got the feeling if he walked in there now, took his clothes off, and got into bed with her, she wouldn't object. Actually, the opposite was likely to happen. A very small part of him was tempted, no question. Carina was definitely hot. But he wasn't that kind of person. As much as he wanted to be sometimes and as much as this job required it, he couldn't do that to Alex. Certainly not now. It wasn't right. Carina may have been correct in that he needed to relax, but her ideas on how to do it wouldn't help anybody.

He walked into the other bedroom, removed the uniform shirt he had worn since 7:30 that morning, and collapsed on the bed. He would toss and turn most of the night. Sarah was right in that he would become a good spy. It was the rest of it where he was starting to feel like a complete failure.

_**Bryn Mawr Medical Center, Philadelphia  
January 8, 2011  
7:00 AM EST**_

During the night, a doctor checked on Michael Forrest II and ordered him transferred to the ICU. The attendants had ordered her to leave the hospital, but a vicious snarl and flash of her ID made them back off. However, they insisted she keep some distance so they could do their work. She sat in a chair five feet from the foot of his bed. Through the night, she nodded off on occasion, only to have the droll of the respirator and the demoralizing beeping of the monitors that measured her father's barely-alive condition wake her up.

The door opened, and Alex turned to see Mike, Danni, and their daughters standing there. Danni kept the girls behind her so they didn't have to see Grandpa in this state.

"Were you here all night, Alex?" Danni asked with considerable worry.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," she replied sadly. "The doctor was in here, I don't know, a few hours ago. He said there was no change. He wasn't sure how long it would take Dad to recover, if he ever does."

"You were here all night?" Mike asked, his anger seeping through, even at this early hour. "That's impressive. And the world didn't fall apart while you were gone. Who would have guessed?"

Alex stared at him with quickly-building fury, but Danni cut her off. "Alex, the girls are staying with a friend of mine today. You look like you could spend some time away from here. Do you want to take them? Maybe get them some breakfast on the way? We didn't have enough time to get them fed before coming over."

It was the last thing Alex wanted to do, but she could see Danni would not be able to handle yet another fight between the two siblings. In front of their dying father, no less. She relented. Besides, she could use something to eat.

"That sounds like a good idea, Danni."

Danni handed her the car keys. "Our Lexus SUV is parked downstairs by the main door. The girls will tell you where. Carolyn's address is in the GPS already."

"No problem," Alex replied. She walked past Mike, ignoring his glare, and went to the girls. She buttoned her coat and took the hand of each of the girls. She took them downstairs.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 8, 2011  
7:00 AM PST**_

Jimmy Slade was never much for lingering in the shower. He got in, got clean, and got out. This morning was a different story. He was completely lost in thought. He was also hoping the hot water would wake him up. He tossed and turned most of the night, reverting back to his old habits when he was over 400 pounds of anger and self-hatred. This morning felt a little like those days. He was trying to keep this mission in the forefront of his mind, but he still couldn't help but worry about what happened to Alex. He had to refocus himself and put his concern for Alex on the back-burner.

Carina walking into the bathroom and opening the shower curtain was an instant solution to this problem.

He turned to her in shock. But he had to give her credit; at least she wore a robe, albeit one so short the mystery of whether she was a natural redhead continued due to a mere technicality.

"Uh, what's wrong?" Jimmy asked with his teeth chattering quite profusely for being in such a hot shower.

"Can you give me a starting point for where I should begin my surveillance today?"

"Yeah, I have a card from our contact with the San Diego P.D. Just tell them you're working with Commander Paul Purcell," he replied. He wanted to turn in the shower, but he had no angles that wouldn't improve her view of something on him.

Carina looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow. "I'd accuse you of having false modesty, Jimmy, but nobody is that good of an actor."

Carina feeling him up last night was less discomfiting than this. "Um, for surveillance, I have a few items in my briefcase that will be a big help to you today."

_You have a few things that would be a big help to me right now_, Carina thought without a hint of self-consciousness. "That's fine. I'll let you finish showering."

"Thank you," Jimmy replied with more than a bit of relief. He turned back to finish showering, and Carina gave him a long, lascivious glance as she went back to the other bedroom to ready herself for the day.

Every agent on the west coast from the various intelligence and law enforcement communities had heard of Seo Chang-Hee. She had to admit helping to capture him would be quite a feather in her cap. Jimmy may have been borderline frightened in her presence, but perhaps things were different when the pressure was on. Sarah's insights regarding other agents, especially male agents, may have had shaky beginnings because of Bryce, but she always knew which ones were the best on the job. She said Jimmy was a good agent, which was good enough for Carina. Whether Jimmy was good in other areas was something she intended to find out. Based on what she saw in the shower, she couldn't see how he wouldn't be good at a few things.

_**Bryn Mawr Medical Center, Philadelphia  
January 8, 2011  
10:30 AM EST**_

Alex drove back to the hospital, carefully negotiating the snowy roads in Philadelphia. She wasn't one to impose on people if it had nothing to do with the job. Certainly she didn't like to impose on complete strangers. But it was clear why Danni had Carolyn watch her kids. She was a very nice person, and the girls adored her. Danni probably told Carolyn all about her because Carolyn could tell Alex was sleep-deprived and insisted Alex take a quick nap in her guest room while she watched the girls. Alex didn't want to do it, but fatigue won out. It was a wise move; the girls gave her a hug, and Alex felt a lot better after taking them to breakfast and catching an hour of shuteye. It didn't eliminate the emotional overload she was feeling now with her father in critical condition at the hospital, but every little bit helped.

Mike and Danni were seated outside of her father's room in the ICU. Both of them had looks of concern.

"Are the doctors in there?" Alex asked.

"They're checking him now," Mike replied. "At this point, it's too early to tell, although they said he's in better shape now than he was last night, for whatever that's worth."

"Well, whatever it takes to help him. I know a few people in the Bureau, and they can get in contact with some of the people at Walter Reed and the CDC. They can help find the best doctors for Dad."

"Good to know somebody in high places," Danni said with a tired smile, which Alex appreciated. Mike and she might have had their difficulties, but Alex couldn't fault his taste in spouses.

"It's no big deal. I have more than a few favors that can be cashed in. I can talk to the higher-ups about using some vacation time to stay around Philadelphia. They're always telling me to use them. I'm sure we can get a 24-hour nurse to help out. The thought of putting Dad in a nursing home is out of the question."

"Gee, Alex. That's very generous of you," Mike countered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Any chance I'll be consulted on what happens to Dad at some point?"

Alex's eyes shot daggers at Mike. "If you're really that concerned about the money, I'll pay for it myself. It won't cost you anything outside of a spare bedroom. I think you have one or two of those, don't you?"

"You'll pay for it?" Mike scoffed. "Yeah, because THAT was my main concern. I make half a million dollars a year as a partner, Alex. What do you make? 80, 90 thousand? Yet you're going to toss almost all of your salary in to feel like a saint."

Danni was feeling a migraine coming on. "This is getting ridiculous…"

Mike cut her off. "Sorry, Danni. I just want to end this before it starts. Apparently, Alex forgot we both agreed to give me power of attorney for Dad, just in case something like this happens."

"That was for signing paperwork! Because…HELLO…you are an attorney! But that doesn't mean you have the exclusive say on how we take care of him!"

"I think the fact he's been living with us for four years while you continue to work out your hate on the world just because your fiancé is dead gives me that right!"

Alex bolted up, and only Danni's intervention prevented her from giving the hospital another patient. "Alex, Alex. It's not the time for this. We can work this out. Just, please. Please."

Alex stared at Mike for a long moment, more than tempted to push Danni aside and attack her brother. She eventually calmed down. She looked at Danni, and Alex could tell that she was ready to go over the edge herself. She didn't want to take the high road in this situation, but it didn't appear that Mike would do that anytime soon.

"I'll contact you in a few days," Alex said quietly to Danni. She turned slowly and walked to the exit.

She reached her rental car. She screamed at the top of her lungs and slammed her fist on the trunk. She left an appreciable dent on the trunk, but she didn't care at this point. There was so much frustration, anger, and fear she felt right now, and she didn't know how to deal with it. Perhaps this would have been easier to handle a year ago when she didn't allow herself any emotion. But the proverbial genie had been let out of the bottle, and she couldn't get the cork back on. Her father was gravely ill, her brother was driving the wedge between them even further, and she left her partner high-and-dry on a mission.

The first two made her not care about the third one. Hell, Jimmy probably had the mission completed by now anyway. Mr. Perfect Frickin' Agent. She drove to the airport because she didn't know what else to do but return to San Diego.

_**USS Stockton  
January 8, 2011  
8:00 AM PST**_

Jimmy didn't need this mission to become more complicated. And yet it did. He just found out the hard way why you don't always trust even the most trustworthy people.

As he walked through the CIC to check the computer logs, he noticed several senior officers on-hand that weren't there yesterday. All of them had passive looks on their faces, but their mere presence cast a far more professional, even somber, shadow across the men and women working on the ship. There was only one explanation: Admiral Carter.

Carter promised not to leak any information Jimmy gave him regarding the investigation, but perhaps Jimmy should have emphasized that the ship had to function as close to normal as possible. Carter must have told his senior officers to spend more time around ship today to keep everybody on their toes. In doing so, he inadvertently tipped off the perpetrators. Sure enough, the logs for the last two shifts, the ones after Jimmy told Carter about his findings, showed no anomalies whatsoever. He would have to find the responsible party the hard way.

Unless the responsible party tipped themselves off by giving surreptitious glances towards him, like Lieutenant Hansen was doing right now. The gun was smoking once again.

Jimmy immersed himself in work to not make any indications he knew something about Hansen. He felt the looks in his direction continue, but he didn't acknowledge it. He tried to narrow down the list of possible suspects as much as he could. By checking the computer log showing ID badges being swiped to access more sensitive parts of the ship, he was able to strike 3 more people off of his list. It was beginning to look like this was Lt. Hansen's work.

But something bothered him. Hansen's record before now had been exemplary. Even if his reason for doing all of this was to save his parents' house, this was still a desperate move to make. Why risk everything? The only thing Jimmy could think of was that Dana put him up to it and convinced him it would solve all of his problems. If that were the case, Hansen was starting to look more and more like someone who listened to the wrong people and Mackey was the actual guilty party.

_**Sheerwater Restaurant, Coronado  
January 8, 2011  
10:00 AM PST**_

Carina handed her keys to the valet. Dana Mackey had not made any recent phone calls, but the San Diego Police Department did a good job of keeping their eye on her. She left her house 30 minutes ago and arrived at this restaurant. Carina kept her distance, but following a mark was standard operating procedure for almost any government agency.

Sarah appeared to be right about Jimmy. When it came to the job, he was prepared. He gave her a modified mobile phone that might be able to pick up Seo Chang-Hee's signal. It wouldn't be able to crack the security on his phone, but it could save the information so some of the über-geeks at Langley might be able to do something with it. He also gave her a listening device. He had procured it from the San Diego field office, and it was one of the smallest she had seen. Her plan was simple: pass by their table inside the restaurant as she was being seated and record his mobile phone signal. She would then pass by their table a second time, stopping suddenly as if to look for someone, and carefully plant the bug on the back of his chair.

The hostess came up to her and Carina asked for a table. They walked past Seo Chang-Hee and Dana Mackey. Carina recorded the signal from his mobile phone. As she reached her table, she checked the phone. She had what appeared to be a good capture. When the server came to take her order, she asked which way the restroom was, even though she knew exactly where it was already. She walked towards their table. When she got behind Seo-Chang Hee, she stopped.

"Damn, I should get my mobile phone," she muttered to herself, using his chair to help her change direction back to her table. The bug was planted. Carina went back to her table to get her mobile phone to sell the act, and she passed by their table a third time.

Seo Chang-Hee looked at Carina as she passed his table on that third time. Although redheads were not as common in the United States, seeing one in an upscale restaurant in a business suit was not that uncommon. However, this particular redhead looked familiar to her.

He waited until she disappeared out of sight. He then put his finger to his lips to instruct Dana not to say anything. He took out a small notebook of paper and wrote a note to Dana.

_Someone is listening to our conversations. I will write down what I want to say. Ignore anything else. That redheaded woman you just saw is a corporate spy for one of my competitors._

Dana read the note. "Well, the coast is beautiful many times of the year, but the rain shows up in January." She mouths _How do you know?_ to Seo Chang-Hee.

"I like to visit the coast in March. I absolutely love playing golf at Pebble Beach," Seo Chang-Hee said out loud. Carina listened in from the restroom. He wrote another message.

_I saw her at a mansion in Malibu just over three years ago. She was with a blonde woman and a lanky male. We will meet tomorrow at noon. Omni Hotel, in the Gaslamp District._

Dana's mobile phone began to ring. Seo Chang-Hee quickly wrote down another note.

_Walk away from the table and then answer it. Do not stay on long. They may have tapped your phone._

Dana walked away as instructed. She checked the caller ID to see it was Andre Hansen.

"Dana, they're keeping an eye on everybody around here. I think they know something is going on."

"They don't know anything, Andre. You're not even stealing. My friend just wants to see how you guys are able to do searches on the coordinates so quickly. They want to restructure their search module to make their program faster."

"I don't know. This Commander Purcell has been going through every damn thing in the CIC. He must suspect something. We have to give this up."

"No, we can't do that now. I'll think of something. Maybe we can get the meeting moved up before anybody asks too many questions. I'll talk to you later."

Lt. Hansen looked at his mobile phone as Dana hung up on him. He looked out over the deck, and her reassuring words had no effect whatsoever. He was tempted to call her back, but he knew he could only be on break for a couple of minutes before people questioned his whereabouts. He quickly returned to the CIC.

Dana walked back to the table. She motioned for Seo Chang-Hee's pad, which he gave her. Carina continued to listen on the bug from the restroom.

"Actually, I like to go to Florida in April, and then spend May and early June in the Midwest. I have family in Minneapolis, and Chicago has a lot of places to go. My boyfriend is a big-time baseball fan."

She wrote on the pad. _My boyfriend says there is a Commander Purcell on board the ship. He thinks Purcell is doing an investigation._

Seo-Chang Hee read the note and wrote underneath, _I'll take care of that. Don't worry. Everything will be fine._

"So, what do you say? We meet at 10 AM tomorrow? The Doubletree Hotel near Sea World has a nice outdoor dining area."

"Sounds great," Dana replied. "See you then."

Dana exited the restaurant. Carina walked back to her table without even glancing this time. For some reason, she was suspicious about their conversation. She wasn't certain, but she swore she had heard Dana Mackey's voice before. Most agents relied on their instincts, and Carina probably did that more than anyone. Her instincts were telling her that the captured phone signal was the only decent intel she got from this meeting. The rendezvous the two of them planned for the next day sounded phony. Still, she couldn't prove it. However, she had a hunch.

She took out the card that Jimmy gave her and asked the San Diego Police to do some research for her. Out of her view, Seo Chang-Hee was sending a text message.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 8, 2011  
3:30 PM**_

Alex returned to the hotel in a condition that would be far from ideal. She staggered up to the suite and plugged in her phone. Sure enough, there were a dozen voicemail messages, all of them pleas from Jimmy to contact him. She tried calling him, but now his phone went straight to voicemail. She whipped her phone against the wall in a fit of drunken rage and went to the bar just off the main lobby.

Her anger at Mike over what happened earlier that day continued to build inside, threatening to burst outward. On the flight back, she was one of only 3 people in first class. The flight attendant offered her a glass of wine, and she immediately asked for something harder. As she kept quiet throughout the flight, it never occurred to the flight attendants to stop serving her liquor. Typically they only did that if the passenger was becoming a problem. They didn't realize they were helping to provoke a volcano.

She was certainly in no condition to drive back to the Loews Hotel after downing 7 drinks on the flight, but at this point, she didn't care. It felt like everything she had worked for over the last nine years was all for nothing. She tried to help protect this country, but it only got more dangerous. She tried to forget about John but to no avail. Her mother was dead; her father was in critical health, and now what was left of her family had all but disowned her. All of it got to her. And she cared that it did. She was partially-human again, thanks to Jimmy.

_Great timing, you son of a bitch, _she thought as she downed her 8th and 9th shots of the day. She didn't even know why he called. Couldn't he handle this mission himself? Hell, he did practically all of the work in New York, right? She was just along for the ride…and let Jimmy ride her. Another in a long series of bad decisions.

The worst part of all was that he wouldn't even give her the satisfaction of being an arrogant prick about any of it. He acted as if he was nobody special. Doesn't he get it? He's the one they'll put on the recruiting posters someday…if the CIA actually put pictures of their agents on recruiting posters. In Jimmy's case, they may as well: they'd never run out of candidates if that happened. He was the new fair-haired boy.

She had a look of disgust on her face at that image as she reached for her tenth shot.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 8, 2011  
6:00 PM**_

Jimmy made it back to the hotel, but there was no other information he got during the remainder of his time on the _Stockton_. He hadn't heard from Carina yet, but he hoped she fared better in following Dana Mackey.

He opened the door to the suite to find Alex Forrest there. Judging by how she was standing and the scowl on her face, something was definitely wrong.

"Alex, I was worried about you. Are you OK?"

"Sure, never could be better," she replied with a slight slurring of her voice and plenty of sarcasm. "That was a fun trip I took."

"Um, where did you go?"

"Just thought I'd take a little trip. Did I need you to sign my permission slip first?"

Jimmy was cautious. "No, you didn't have to. I was wondering what happened to you."

Alex was having a little difficulty in staying still. "I'm a big girl, Jimmy. Hell, some parts of me I think are a little too big, but you never complained, so thank you for your discretion."

"Well, I was really worried about you. I really could have used your help."

Alex gave him a disdainful chortle. She emptied the contents of her glass. "Yeah, right. You did all of the work in New York, and that was 100 times tougher than this. Hell, you could have finished this mission while I went out to lunch."

"You know that's not true. You ran the mission in New York and you're in charge here."

"Oh, don't give me that 'I'm a helpless new agent' bullshit. The CIA wants you to be the biggest star in the spy world! Don't you read the newspapers? Or whatever passes for gossip in this business? You got it all. Brains, beauty, brawn. You're the CIA's wet dream come true. What am I? I haven't been anything on these missions but your little plaything to screw when you get home!"

The frustration and anger were building in Jimmy quickly. "That is bullshit and you know it. You saved my life twice already!"

"Hey, I'm not complaining. You're great in bed. I ain't fakin' the orgasms. You got that long, huge…"

"Enough! This isn't you, Alex!"

Alex threw the glass she was holding at Jimmy. She missed by a considerable margin, and the glass shattered against the wall. "Yeah, I know this isn't me! I used to be a cold bitch! I loved being one! But then I had to meet you! You and Bartowski and Walker and Casey! I screw up a case and you don't let me take the punishment for it! You should have let that Russian prick kill me!"

"You can't seriously be telling me you'd rather be dead right now."

"Might as well be. I can't be a cold bitch anymore. You took that away from me. Right when I needed it the most."

"What are you talking about? What happened to you?"

"Just leave me the hell alone! You didn't just have your family ripped apart for no good reason! Don't try to tell me that I should feel glad to be here! Don't talk to me about who I am! You don't know anything about me! I'm sure you come from this oh-so-perfect family. Like the frickin' Brady Bunch or something! Everybody all hugging and kissing all the time. You probably go fishing with your daddy every weekend and your mommy makes this big picnic basket for the two of you to take there."

Jimmy felt the blood drain from his face. He glared at Alex for a long moment. If Alex was coherent enough to register his expression, she would have thought her life was in great danger.

"You don't know anything about me, either," Jimmy replied quietly. He turned quickly and exited the suite.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 8, 2011  
8:00 PM**_

Carina walked through the lobby of the hotel. She glanced at the lounge as she headed towards the elevators. She stopped in surprise when she saw Jimmy sitting in there.

Carina approached him. "What are you doing down here?" He turned towards her, and what she saw was the last thing she expected.

Jimmy was quiet, he had a drink in front of him, and his eyes were red.

"I'm…I'm just looking for some peace and quiet," he said in almost a whisper. "Did you find out anything?"

"I got the signal off of Seo Chang-Hee's phone," she replied carefully. "I got some information from the bug about a meeting they're supposed to have tomorrow at a hotel near Sea World, but I have the feeling…are you sure you're OK? You look like you found out someone just died."

"It's nothing. My partner is back. I can give her everything you collected and I can stop inconveniencing you. You were a great help, but I don't want to impose on you any further."

"Did something happen with you and your partner?"

"Alex. That's her name. No, nothing happened," Jimmy replied, but neither of them bought that.

"Wait. Alex Forrest?"

"You know her?"

"I've heard of her. You two were the ones who did that job in New York in November. Cold as ice was supposed to be her reputation. Clearly you thawed her."

Jimmy was downcast. "I must have, because now she's blaming me for it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, but she came back and went into a drunken rage at me. What the hell did I do wrong?"

"You can't seriously be taking what someone who was drunk out of her mind said to heart, can you?"

Jimmy continued to look at the ground. He was shaking. "It…it was more than that…"

Carina lifted Jimmy's chin up. "Look, I don't know what Alex's problem is, but there's no way it can be your fault. She left, and it's obvious she didn't tell you where she went. No matter what the circumstances, you don't leave your partner hanging like that. Sarah was right about you. You're good at this job. The hardware you gave me today was a big help. You don't deserve what Alex did to you. Whatever she said, there's no way it can be right. You're not the type who can be a bastard. Sarah wouldn't have spoken so highly of you if you were."

Jimmy sat there silently. Carina gazed into his eyes. She ran her hand over his cheek. It was very weird to actually feel sympathy for someone, but this wasn't the same over-caffeinated person she saw last night. Last night, she needed to get him to relax. Tonight, he looked like he lost his only friend in the world. This was not the typical cold-hearted agent she was used to seeing in this line of work.

"Thanks for everything you did today," Jimmy replied with some sadness still resonating in his voice. "And thanks for your kind words."

Carina felt a slight chill go through her body. Almost nobody said words like that to her. And nobody was ever this vulnerable in front of her. It was odd some of the things that happened in the last year or two. She watched Sarah finally lower her defenses to let Chuck in, that bearded little troll who worked at the Buy More told her off…compelling her to sleep with him, and now another agent was treating her as if she was a confidant in less than a day.

She drew Jimmy's face to hers and gave him a gentle kiss. "You're welcome."

She held her lips just a few inches from his. She went for broke and kissed him hard. He gave in for a few seconds, responding to her sensuous lips. Carina could feel the electricity coming back to him. Suddenly he tried to pull away.

"No, not this time," Carina replied as she grabbed the back of his head and pressed her lips harder into his, her eager tongue tantalizing him. She undid his belt and was prepared to take him right there in the bar. "You needed this last night, and you need it even more now. And I really need to give it to you."

She slid her hand inside of his pants and moaned into his mouth. "Actually, you really need to give it to me. Holy crap. Now I know how you melted Alex."

Just as Jimmy started to relax again, something in his mind snapped. He pulled her hand out and leaped off the chair.

"I'm sorry, I…I…," he said in tears. He bolted out of the lounge, leaving a shocked Carina in his wake. She followed behind him, but he ran out of the hotel. She stared out the doors of the hotel, the automatic doors opening and closing as she stood in the sensor's range.

Carina walked up to the suite and entered. She saw Alex Forrest sitting on the couch. Alex appeared to still be drunk

"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?"

"Carina Miller, and I've been pretending to be you for the last 24 hours."

Alex looked at her with condescension, even in her alcoholic haze. "Oh, right. I've heard of you. I just didn't recognize you upright and with your clothes on."

"You are really in no position to judge me. You abandon Jimmy, rip into him for no reason, and you don't even have the common decency to tell him why?"

"Oh, sorry for interrupting whatever or whoever you were doing. I'm back now, so you can go."

"I'm not going anywhere! I may have done some shady things in my life, but there's no way I would treat anybody the way you just treated him! Do you even get that he tried to cover for you? And this is how you thank him?"

"I don't know why he was. I haven't done jack shit on this mission. He can handle it all by himself. Just whip out the tights and cape, and he can solve any problem."

"Do you even have a clue what I'm saying? Do you know where he is right now?"

"Hunting down Lex Luthor? Flying to Lois Lane's apartment in Metropolis?"

"I found him in the lounge downstairs. He was crying, for God's sake! He stops a terrorist attack in New York and now he runs crying out of the hotel? What in the hell did you say to him?"

"It's none of your damn business. Now get out of my hotel room."

"Did you forget? You forced me to be on this mission. And you're in no condition to continue it. I leave when it's done. And as much as I hate the rulebook, I'll make sure Beckman knows everything that happened. You had no right to treat Jimmy like that. That poor guy is crazy about you and you shit all over him?"

Alex bolted out of the couch and went after Carina. "Get out of here!"

Carina blocked her punch and landed a jab on Alex out of instinct. Alex staggered back and looked ready to attack again. Suddenly she lost her balance and collapsed to the floor. Carina looked down on her in disgust.

"I don't know what the hell Jimmy sees in you," she said with scorn at the unconscious Alex.

She attempted to call Jimmy, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Carina left a message for Jimmy to call her immediately. She left Alex lying on the floor and went into the bedroom. All of this was very unsettling. Why the hell does she even care about what happens? In reality, she didn't give a rat's ass about Alex. She could go back to being a bitch for all Carina cared. But she was seeing what Sarah liked about Jimmy. Guys like him shouldn't be good agents. And yet he was.

_**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 9, 2011  
7:30 AM**_

Alex woke up and the world was still spinning. She sat on the floor for a moment waiting for the fog to clear. It went away…only to be replaced with an insanely bad headache. She blinked a few times to make sure her vision still worked. The room appeared to be in some disarray, and she saw a broken glass near the far wall. She couldn't remember much from the previous night, apart from being completely drunk.

The door to the second bedroom opened, and Jimmy emerged in his naval uniform disguise. He glared at her for a moment and left the suite without saying a word. She looked around and spotted her phone in a few pieces near another wall. She crawled over to it and put it back together. She plugged it into an outlet and dialed Jimmy's mobile phone. Unlike yesterday, he answered right away.

"Is this related to the mission?" she heard Jimmy ask with a coldness she felt through the phone.

"Um, no," Alex stammered. She didn't get in another word as Jimmy hung up on her. She tried calling again, but he wouldn't answer.

She could hear the shower running in the other bedroom. She vaguely remembered arguing with a woman last night, but the rest of the details were a blur. She also felt a bit of pain on her face. She walked into the bedroom from where Jimmy emerged moments ago and looked in the mirror. There was a mark on her face. She wasn't certain, but the mark could have been made by someone punching her.

_What the hell did I do last night?_

Alex couldn't remember much, but she knew that she had to be in some sort of trouble. Judging by Jimmy's behavior and the mark on her face, likely caused by the woman she had the argument with, she must have done something horribly wrong.

She grabbed some clothes and went into the shower. The last two days were some of the worst of her life, but she had an unshakeable fear that they were only a prelude to today.

Jimmy drove his car toward the naval base. He was as mad as he had ever been in his life, pre- or post-death. But his instructors told him to keep his emotions out of the mission. He concentrated on doing that. Unfortunately, he didn't concentrate on the person who was following him three cars back with a gun on the passenger seat.


	4. Control Damage and Reload

_Hello. Judging by the lack of reviews of my last chapter (but thank you to augmarenne, tw200 and Jimmy144 for reviewing), I get the feeling a few of you weren't thrilled with the turn of events. I am forced to admit I was trying a new angle, since I was afraid that I was going to the well too many times with Jimmy needing a confidence boost from someone else to do his job. But the big question is, can Alex redeem herself after what she did in the last chapter? This and the next chapter will answer that question._

_It took an extra day to get this one done because I was sick this week. I think you have to be a special kind of crazy when your boss tells you to go home and gets mad at you because you decided to keep working instead. Either I'm a workaholic or I'm nuts. Probably both._

_Please leave reviews. Please? Pretty please?_

_

* * *

**Loews Hotel, Coronado  
January 9, 2011  
8:00 AM**_

Alex looked at herself in the mirror after spending more than a considerable length of time in the shower. She was at the point of looking professional again, if only on the outside. Her head was still throbbing, and it would take time for the four aspirin she swallowed to work their magic.

The look Jimmy gave her as he left the suite was burned into her mind. She couldn't remember much from last night, but clearly she did or said something ghastly to garner that reaction from him. He didn't even look at her that way in Las Vegas when Beckman pulled him out of the field. She tried to recall something…anything…she might have said last night, but she was having no luck at all.

She gently caressed the spot high on her left cheekbone where the mark on her face previously was, lessened by the careful application of makeup. The size of the mark led her to believe that the woman she had a vague recollection of seeing last night…a redhead sprung to mind for some reason…may have had something to do with it. She wasn't sure if she provoked the woman into hitting her, but that was a reasonable assumption, given how Jimmy reacted to seeing her.

She exited the bedroom and saw Carina emerge from the master bedroom. At least some of her memory of last night was correct. She recognized the DEA agent. She looked behind her at the bedroom from which she emerged. Carina wasn't exactly the type of woman a guy would bring home to meet his mother, but she was a fairly successful agent nonetheless. Right now, however, Carina was shooting a rather contemptuous look her way. Clearly there was much damage control ahead for Alex today.

"I get the feeling I got this mark on my face from you," Alex started with zero aggression in her voice.

"You deserved a lot worse than that," Carina replied evenly.

Alex hung her head. "I'm starting to get that impression. The look Jimmy gave me when he left…" The thought was doubling the size of her headache. "How much damage did I do? Anything catch on fire? Anybody get thrown off the balcony because of me?"

"Fortunately, the damage was restricted to Jimmy."

"Oh, God." Alex shook her head. It was the last thing she wanted to hear.

Carina's expression softened a bit. She was so tempted to turn the knife in Alex's gut. She wanted to tell Alex that she went to comfort Jimmy and that the two of them spent the night screwing themselves silly. She wanted to say how she made Jimmy forget any thought of Alex. But looking at Alex now was like looking at Sarah during more than a few of her lovelorn moments. Alex looked genuinely dismayed at what she did to Jimmy. Making her feel worse would be kicking a dog when they're down. Saying those things to her would have been irrelevant, anyway. She didn't think Jimmy would lie like that to anybody, no matter what the circumstances. It wasn't in his nature. Last night would have been so much more fun if he wasn't such a boy scout. Clark Kent may have been better looking than Bruce Wayne, but only Lois Lane ever wanted to sleep with him.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Alex was subdued, courtesy of a combination of self-hatred and a pounding headache. "It's a long story. Honestly, I'd rather not rehash it. It hurts too much."

"I was doing your job yesterday. Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Alex nodded her agreement. It was only fair. "My father suffered a stroke. His chances of survival aren't good. I flew back to be with him, and…the situation with my family…it was a disaster. You know what this job does to you."

Carina didn't know her real parents, having bounced around her fair share of foster homes growing up. But certainly she could understand the concept. "Yeah. But why didn't you tell anybody?"

"I…I don't know. I should have. It hit me, I…wasn't thinking. I'm not used to feeling this way. I used to not care at all. I was able to keep my emotions under control. But now…"

Carina found the entire conversation jarring. This was not the Alex Forrest she heard of. This was far from the cold, calculating ice queen who didn't care how many toes she stepped on to accomplish her goals. Seeing an agent act this meek was almost beyond comprehension, and now she had seen it from two different agents in the last 12 hours.

"Now may not be the best time for you to get emotional. We're still in the middle of a mission," Carina replied with a businesslike tone.

Alex nodded. "You're right. Fixing things with Jimmy will take time. I should get the intel you gathered. Did you have a prior schedule to keep, or did you want to stay around? I could use all the help I can get at this point."

Carina stood there for a moment. "I promised Sarah I'd help Jimmy. I should stick to that."

"Sarah Walker?"

"You know her?"

For the first time in almost 48 hours, a smile came to Alex's face, even if it wasn't much of one. "She's the reason I know Jimmy. I worked with Chuck, Casey, and her in Las Vegas a few months ago. I made a bad decision while trying to push the mission forward, and they had to bail me out. I found out later it was Slade's first mission. He certainly didn't act like a rookie agent on it. And, well…"

Carina couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, what is it about him? I've seduced and manipulated more men than I can ever count in my life. But with him, it…I don't know."

"It feels wrong," Alex completed Carina's thought. "I know what you mean. I haven't been able to figure it out, and neither has Sarah. Maybe it's because he has no arrogance at all. It's as if he doesn't know what he looks like or what he can do. You know some of the insufferable pricks we have to work with."

"All too well. Jimmy was the exact opposite when I got here the other night. I've never seen an agent so nervous before."

"He does that. But the man knows his stuff. He's no rookie when it comes to the job."

"That's what Sarah told me, too. He helped a lot yesterday."

Carina's phone rang. After listening for a few seconds, she walked quickly over to the desk and started jotting down notes.

"OK, get that information over to the Loews and put in under the Purcell name. Meanwhile, have an undercover unit stake out the DoubleTree by Sea World. If I'm right, they'll come up with nothing. Call me the minute that happens." She hung up her phone, and her mood turned serious.

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"Plenty. Dana Mackey, the woman you found the other day? I tailed her to a meeting yesterday morning. She met with Seo Chang-Hee. They were supposed to meet again at 10 AM today. But there was something in her looks and voice that seemed familiar. I had the local office run a full background on a name from an old case I had in Birmingham a few years back. Dana Mackey is Susan Elias. I busted her trying to move heroin from a California source through the South. She has a rap sheet that would impress most gangbangers. Assault, B&E, some weapons charges."

"Why in the hell would a lieutenant in the Navy hook up with her?"

"I don't know. My gut tells me he doesn't know a thing about her past. She might be trying to run a scam to collect a big payday. I didn't get enough information yesterday even to know if she's aware Seo Chang-Hee is a North Korean spy."

"You think the 10 AM meet is a hoax?"

"Yeah. But where is the actual meeting taking place?"

"Maybe Jimmy can get the time and location from Lieutenant Hansen. Call him and relay the information. It'd probably be better if you talk to him. I don't want him getting pissed off at me again, work or no work."

"I'll take care of it," Carina replied as she showed Alex the phone she used yesterday. "We also need to get this mobile phone to Langley. I captured the signal from Seo Chang-Hee's phone. We need the eggheads in the CIA to crack it."

Alex paused for a moment. "I don't know if he's available, but I think there's someone we both know who can help us with that a lot faster than Langley can."

"Chuck?"

Alex smiled. "Unless you know someone even faster."

The two women set about to their tasks.

_**USS Stockton  
January 9, 2011  
8:30 AM**_

Jimmy pulled quickly into the parking lot near where the _USS Stockton_ was docked. As he ascended the gangway, he could see Admiral Carter waiting for him.

"Sir?"

"Looks like your theory was right, Murdock. Hansen's gone AWOL. I was about to contact the MP's to find him."

"He must have seen your senior officers on deck yesterday and got spooked. If he comes back here, detain him. But I'll look for him myself. If we do a full-on search, we could scare away his buyer. We have people keeping an eye on the North Korean agent. I'll get the files from the sonar array back for you."

Carter looked at Jimmy for a moment. "OK, son. We'll play it your way. But those plans can't get away. Hansen was one of my best officers. But if it's a choice between him and losing those plans to the North Koreans…"

"I won't let it come to that, sir. I promise you."

"Good hunting, Murdock."

"Thank you, sir," Jimmy replied with a salute. He quickly returned to his car as the man who followed him watched from 200 yards behind the gate with a pair of binoculars. The man returned to his car as Jimmy drove off the naval complex.

Jimmy drove down Cal 75, heading for Interstate 5. His mobile phone began to ring.

"Murdock here."

"Jimmy, it's Carina. I have some information regarding Dana Mackey. Her actual name is Susan Elias. I confirmed her identity with the CIA office here. I arrested her a few years back when I was working for the DEA. She must be scamming Hansen into giving up the plans."

"Any idea if she knows Seo Chang-Hee is with the North Korean government?"

"I don't know, and I don't think she'd give a damn, anyway. She's all about the dollar signs and doesn't give a damn who she hurts in the process."

"Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better. Hansen is AWOL. I'm going to look for him. I'll see if the local office can keep a lock on his mobile phone. Hopefully, he's dumb enough to use it."

"We'll get to work on cracking Seo Chang-Hee's phone. We think Chuck might be able to help us."

"We? You mean Forrest decided to work today instead of unloading on someone else?"

"Jimmy, come on. It's time to do our jobs."

Jimmy shook his head, a little disgusted with himself for getting upset at the wrong time. "You're right. I'm sorry. Let me know what you find out. Thanks."

Jimmy hung up his phone and continued down Interstate 5. He dialed the number of the San Diego CIA office. He looked to his left just in time for the man in the car next to him to shoot out the front tire on his car. Jimmy began to swerve. He wrenched the steering wheel back and forth to regain control. The man shot out the rear tire and rammed his car into Jimmy's. Jimmy's car went through a barrier and ended up smashed against the overpass support. The man quickly pulled over and walked out. He approached the driver's side of Jimmy's car with his gun out.

_**Loews Hotel  
January 9, 2011  
9:00 AM**_

Alex sent Chuck Bartowski a text to go to Castle and call her the minute he was there. She sat by the computer in the hotel suite, waiting for Chuck to reply. Having something to concentrate on was helping her deal with whatever problems she created last night while she was inebriated. She had to give Carina credit; she hadn't pressed the issue with Alex any further once the two of them got down to business. If Jimmy had said anything to Carina while he was on the phone with her, Carina didn't relay it. But she must have done something wrong last night.

Her mobile phone rang, and she recognized Chuck's number.

"Chuck, thanks for calling back. I'm sorry to call you like this, but we have a problem that requires your expert skills."

"No problem. We just have some reports to file from our mission the other night, but those can wait. What can I do for you?"

Alex hooked up the mobile phone to the computer. "We captured a signal from a mobile phone being used by a North Korean agent. The signal is scrambled, so we can't listen in on what he's saying or track him. We were hoping you could crack the signal faster than Langley."

"Sure, I can give it a try. Give me one second to set up a link."

"No problem."

Chuck got on one of the computers in Castle and typed in a few commands. "OK, Alex. Link on the IP address I'm emailing to your phone and then transmit."

Alex quickly typed the information in the computer. After a moment, the transfer was complete. "Got it. The data should be coming to you now."

Chuck began downloading the information and studied the patterns in the signal. As he expected, he flashed on the signal. His upgraded Intersect had the proper computer method to break the encryption. He started looking for the appropriate program to modify in Castle's database.

"I found the right program, Alex. It'll take me a moment to configure it properly and another moment for the program to decode the signal. After that, I can send the data back to you and you'll be able to trace him."

Alex smiled. She still wasn't sure of Chuck's abilities under extreme duress in the field, but his knowledge of computers was unsurpassed. "Thanks."

"Is everything OK? I know it's still pretty early in the morning, but you don't sound like yourself."

The smile quickly evaporated. Apparently, even the short amount of time they spent together was enough for him to detect her mood. She looked around to make sure Carina wasn't nearby. "Could I ask you a couple of questions about…well…these have nothing to do with being an agent."

Chuck finished compiling the modules for the program and began running the signal through it. "Uh, sure. What's on your mind?"

"I think I…I must have done something very wrong last night."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a long story. But the short of it is that I ended up very drunk last night after dealing with a personal matter, and I think I lashed out at Jimmy. I must have said something very bad because he hasn't talked to me since. I can't remember what I said."

"What was the personal matter, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Someone in my family is very sick and…I don't know…maybe I said something related to that. Perhaps something about his family. I wish I could remember exactly what I said. Obviously whatever I said was very bad. I did something wrong; that much is certain."

Alex got complete silence in reply. It wasn't helpful to her. In fact, it was downright frightening.

"Chuck, being quiet is not helping me. What is it?"

"Alex, I…really can't tell you. Jimmy will have to do that. But if you think you said something about his family, then yes, you did say something wrong. Something very wrong, in fact."

She felt a chill go over her entire body. "What? Chuck, please. Don't leave me hanging like this. I have to know."

"Alex, I can't. You'll have to talk to him. It's that serious."

"Clearly, I need to apologize for whatever I said. But do you think he'll forgive me?"

Chuck vividly recalled the night Sarah and he made Jimmy open up about his past. Jimmy fell apart. "To be honest, I don't know. Normally I'd say Jimmy is too forgiving for his own good, but I really don't know what he'd do in this situation."

Alex held her head. This was getting worse by the second. "Thanks for the information and the decryption. I owe you a lot for this."

"It's OK, Alex. Good luck to you. I hope it works out."

"Luck is definitely what I'll need. I'll call you and Sarah after it's done. Take care."

Alex hung up her phone as Carina entered the suite.

"San Diego Police has pictures of both Elias and Seo Chang-Hee. If they go to the DoubleTree Hotel, they'll keep an eye on them. But either way, they'll call at 10 AM to let us know if they showed up or not."

"Great," Alex replied. "Chuck was able to hack the codes inside of Seo Chang-Hee's phone. All we have to do is wait for him to use it."

"If nothing else, at least you still do your job professionally. I have to give you credit for that."

Alex was downcast at that statement. "Stopping Elias and Seo Chang-Hee will probably be child's play compared to what else I have to fix." She shook her head at the thought of Chuck's words. "I think I might have caused damage that can't be repaired."

Carina smiled. She was starting to be thankful she never went through this in her life. Although she did have to admit her pride was a bit wounded for the second time because a guy said no to her. Still, she knew how different Sarah was since Chuck and she admitted their feelings for each other. Maybe Alex was the same way.

"I don't know what you said to Jimmy, but I get the feeling it may not be as tough as you think," Carina assured her.

_**Interstate 5, San Diego  
January 9, 2011  
9:10 AM**_

The man carefully approached Jimmy's car with his gun drawn. He peered inside from a distance to see Jimmy slumped to his side on the passenger seat. The plan worked perfectly. He could dispose of the body without raising too many suspicions. He approached the car door.

The door swung out hard, knocking the man down. His gun flew away in the process.

Jimmy bounded out of the car and lunged at the man. The man rolled out of the way and gave Jimmy a hard shot to the back of the head. Jimmy fell to the ground. The man got up quickly and pulled out a Bowie knife. Jimmy swept his leg from his prone position and knocked the man off of his feet. He rolled to his knees and landed several hard jabs to the man's face. The man kicked up with his leg and caught Jimmy on the side of his head. Jimmy fell, and the man got on top of him. Jimmy grabbed the man's wrist just before he brought the knife down on Jimmy's throat. The two men struggled to gain the upper hand. The man drove his knee into Jimmy's stomach, and Jimmy had the wind knocked out of him. He strained to bring his foot up and breathe again. Jimmy swung his foot up hard, and it connected with the man's groin. The man screamed in pain, and Jimmy threw the man off of him, twisting the knife out of the man's hand in the process. Jimmy got up with the knife in his possession. The man felt something under his chest. He reached underneath and found his gun. He spun on the ground and aimed the gun at Jimmy. Jimmy threw the knife at him and dove. The shot missed Jimmy by just two inches. The knife found its way into the center of the man's stomach. He fell back and stopped moving.

Jimmy slowly pulled himself up, breathing heavily in the process. His face and arms were covered with dirt and blood. A dozen California Highway Patrol cars pulled up to the scene. Jimmy grabbed his ID and held his hands up to the officers who were coming out with their guns drawn.

"Roger Murdock, CIA. I'm working on an investigation. You can confirm it with your office."

Two of the officers stayed with Jimmy while the others fanned out to check the scene. Jimmy winced when he checked his face and noticed the blood. Another officer brought him a first aid kit.

"Thanks," Jimmy replied as he wiped off some of the blood and dirt. "Do you know who this is? He must be hired muscle."

The officer looked at the man's ID. "Yeah, L.A.P.D. has been looking for him for some time. He had enough charges against him to be put away for the rest of eternity."

Jimmy shook his head. "I guess I just saved the taxpayers twenty grand a year. Forward what you know about him to the CIA regional office. Have them run a full check and get back to me. They may turn up some of the places he's been recently."

He looked around. His car was smashed, and tracking down Hansen in a CHP squad car wouldn't be the smartest idea in the world. He took a look at the car with which the man forced him off the road. He grabbed a few things from his car.

"I have to get back on this case. Is it OK if I take his car?" Jimmy pointed at the dead man on the ground. "I'm guessing he won't mind too much."

Jimmy got into the car and drove off. His mobile phone rang.

"Murdock here."

"Jimmy, it's Carina. Chuck cracked Seo Chang-Hee's phone, and we're waiting for a signal so we can track it."

"I would say whatever is going to happen will happen soon, if the guy who just tried to kill me is any clue."

"What?"

"Some son of a bitch ran me off the road. Someone must have hired him to bump me off. We must be getting close."

"Any ideas who?"

Jimmy's anger was beginning to rise. "If it's who I think it is, it'll take a whole lot of restraint for me not to go Jack Bauer on his ass."

"OK, keep us updated. We're going to get moving and track down Seo Chang-Hee."

"Watch yourselves," Jimmy replied with a dead seriousness.

Jimmy hung up the phone and called the CIA office. For the first time that morning, he was given good news. They told him where to find Hansen.

_**Loews Hotel  
January 9, 2011  
9:50 AM**_

Alex quickly packed the laptop computer and readied her gun. Carina loaded her Sig Sauer P226 as well.

"We still don't have a place to go," Carina noted.

"True, but being mobile is better than sitting in one spot. If they found Jimmy, they can find us."

"I still can't believe Hansen would be able to find someone so quickly to take out Jimmy. He didn't seem the type."

Alex shook her head. "He must have been fooling everybody. Maybe he and Elias really are working together."

The two quickly left the suite and took the elevator down to the lobby. They walked out of the hotel and proceeded toward Alex's car. They noticed two men passing them by. Alex got a sudden bad feeling as the men passed them. She turned her head. The men were pulling guns out.

"Get down!" Alex tackled Carina to the concrete just in time. She whipped out her gun in the process and fired at will. The first man went down, but the second man ducked out of the way and ran. Alex bounced up and pursued the man as Carina pulled her gun out. She turned in time to see a third person get out of a nearby car and aim at her. She fired three shots, and the driver took all three to the chest.

Carina walked carefully around a set of hedges along the hotel's outer wall with her gun drawn. She reached the edge of the building and went around the corner. The man Alex chased leveled his gun from behind a tree.

Three shots went off, and the man fell to the ground. Alex emerged from behind him.

Carina turned in shock at the man she never saw lying dead. Alex walked up to her.

Carina smiled. "That definitely makes up for last night."

Alex exhaled. "I hate to think what I would have to do if it didn't."

_**Mariner's Cove Apartments  
January 9, 2011  
10:15 AM**_

Jimmy ascended the stairs to the second floor apartment. It felt downright silly that Hansen would be dumb enough to be sitting in the apartment of his girlfriend after ordering a hit on him. However, there was no other plausible explanation at this point. Perhaps Carter and he were wrong about Hansen, and Hansen was dirty as well. He was going to get some answers right now.

The door was locked, but Jimmy had a key. A size 16 key, to be exact.

He kicked in the door and went in the apartment. He was shocked to find Hansen just sitting at the kitchen table. Hansen immediately put his hands up and looked like he was about to wet himself. Jimmy kept his gun on him while he checked the other rooms. There was nobody else. Jimmy was incensed.

"I don't know what will make me shoot your ass first: committing treason, or the fact you tried to kill me!"

Hansen looked even more horrified. "What? What the hell are you talking about, Commander? Why are you even here?"

"Don't play that shit with me, Hansen! You're not that good of an actor."

"I swear I don't know what you're talking about!"

Jimmy put the gun in Hansen's face. "You're actually going to try and deny that you stole files off of the _Stockton_ in order to sell them and tried to have me killed?"

"I stole the files, yes. But I didn't try to have you killed! I don't even know where to find anybody who could do that!"

Jimmy paused for a second. Why would Hansen deny ordering a hit but admit to treason? Treason carried the greater punishment: death. It didn't make sense.

Jimmy cocked his gun. "You better give me some answers quick or you'll never make it to trial."

"I got the files for someone who works for a computer company in Silicon Valley. I never met the person before. Dana has, though. She was the one who told me about him. He just wanted to see a few lines of code for a program he was working on. He'd pay me enough money to get my parents' house out of foreclosure. We were supposed to meet in a couple of hours. Dana was setting all of it up."

"How long ago did Dana meet him?"

"I don't know. Maybe a month ago? We weren't supposed to meet until next week, but then Dana told me they changed the time to today."

"When did she tell you that?"

"Yesterday. I was telling her that the senior officers were looking closely at everybody in the CIC, and she said…" Hansen was starting to shake.

"What is it?"

"I told her your name. I didn't try to hire someone to kill you. But she must have."

Jimmy un-cocked the gun as Hansen put his head on the table. Susan Elias or Seo Chang-Hee setting up the hit on him made much more sense, and now Hansen provided the missing piece of the puzzle. It appeared once again that he was only guilty of stealing the files.

"Hansen, you'll have to come clean if you want to avoid being charged with treason. Did you give Dana the files yet? Has she ever seen them?"

"No. I downloaded the last of the files early yesterday."

"Do you have copies stored anyplace?"

Hansen produced a flash drive from his pocket. "This is the only copy of them."

Jimmy took the flash drive and pulled Hansen up. He put Hansen against the wall and frisked him completely. He had nothing else on him.

"Do you have a computer here?"

"Dana has one in the bedroom."

Jimmy motioned with his gun. "Let's go."

The two of them went into the bedroom. Jimmy placed the flash drive in the computer and analyzed the files. So far, Hansen was telling the truth.

"How long have you known Dana?"

"About six months. She saw me at a dance the Navy was giving. I was upset and stressed out because my parents weren't adjusting well to living in my apartment, and well…"

"Do you know anything about her past?"

"Anytime I ask, she changes the subject or she does…other things…to avoid the question."

"Well, this won't make you feel better. We did a background check on her. Her actual name is Susan Elias. She's a convicted felon, mostly drugs, weapons, and assault. Obviously she was trying for a new score out here and thought you'd be it. You were about to sell top secret Navy software to a North Korean spy."

Hansen felt nauseous from the bombshell Jimmy dropped. "Oh, God. What the hell have I done?"

"Hopefully, we can minimize the damage. Stand over by the door and keep your hands where I can see them."

Hansen did as he was instructed. Jimmy sat at the computer and went online to search for a few items he needed.

He turned to Hansen. "If you lied to me even once or if there's another copy of these files anywhere out there, I'll make sure your execution is a pay-per-view event."

"Yes, sir," Hansen nervously replied. "But what do I have to do?"

Jimmy pulled the memory stick out of the computer. He placed another one in and walked away from the computer quickly. The computer began to spark and smoke. A puff of acrid gas filled the air. The computer was completely destroyed.

"You're going to your meet with Susan as planned. Then I'm going to arrest her and the North Korean agent."

"What…what will happen to me?" Hansen was 20 different emotions, not one of which was joy or happiness.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'll tell them you cooperated, but the military usually doesn't take too kindly to theft like this."

"OK, whatever I have to do to make this right. I just wanted to help my parents. They haven't been doing well since my father was laid off."

"We'll have to see," Jimmy replied as he packed his things.

Jimmy headed for the door, and Hansen followed him out. They got downstairs to the car Jimmy was driving. Hansen suddenly slumped to the ground. Before Jimmy could react to the direction the tranquilizer dart came from, he dropped to the ground as well.


	5. Forgive Others, Forgive Yourself

_Hello again. This is the final chapter of this story. As always, a big thanks to those of you who reviewed it, especially **Jimmy144**, **Augmarenne**, **TW200**, **Dwarfius**, and **Jagged**. Like I told one or two of them, I have to stop treating these stories like they're homework assignments and the reviews are the teacher's grades. I must be the only person who can take a hobby and give themselves a heart attack with it. (I also golf and sing on stage, too, so I must be masochistic about how I relax.)_

_I'm going to write a Valentine's Day story for Chuck that will have two versions: T-rated and M-rated. I think I've been reading too much of **MXPW's **stuff recently. Hope you enjoy it._

_As always, please review. Come on, you have until March 1st before the next new Chuck ep. You can squeeze in some reading and reviewing during that time, right?_

_

* * *

**Interstate 5, San Diego  
January 9, 2011  
10:45 AM**_

Alex and Carina drove quickly along the highway, even though their destination was not yet known. The local office was attempting to trace the license plate of the car used by the three men who tried to kill them at the hotel. Alex had the mobile phone attached to her laptop. With Chuck's help, they would be able to track Seo Chang Hee's mobile phone, but they would have to wait until he used it before they could triangulate the signal.

"I have to admit, they don't give the two of you easy missions," Carina said as she drove along the highway while Alex monitored the phone. "Was New York this tough?"

"It wasn't easy. We stopped that bomb with only seconds to spare. Unfortunately, any difficulty I've had with this mission so far has been purely self-inflicted."

"I haven't worked with too many partners in my life. There was always too much conflict or tension. Maybe I'm just too stubborn for my own good."

Alex smiled. "That sounds familiar. But I take it you've worked with Chuck, Sarah, and Casey a few times?"

"It's not something Casey will proudly admit to, but we have," Carina replied as a bit of a randy smirk came across her face. "I must concede having a bit of a thing for John, and I know he has a big thing for me, if you know what I mean." Carina got a little lost in thought. "Mmm, if only we had twenty more minutes in Prague…"

The car suddenly swerved. "Hey, keep it in your pants, Miller. I don't want to end up with a road sign through me just because you were getting horny."

Carina came back to reality. "Sorry. But they are the only people I'd ever want to work with again. I can't stand most agents. Present company finally excluded."

Alex gave a little laugh. "Finally, yeah. My first meeting with them was not a pleasant one, to say the least. Beckman sent me to assess Sarah's relationship with Chuck, and I recommended reassignment."

"I heard about that. I'm surprised she didn't rip your throat out."

"I'm surprised, too. Especially when they assigned me to lead them on the mission in Las Vegas. Things went bad and I blamed Slade for the downfall of the mission. Then I go screw up like I did, and they still save me from being killed by the Russian mob." Alex shook her head as the headache from earlier that morning was making a return visit. "I've made a lot of mistakes lately, but last night had to be the worst of all. I can't really blame Jimmy if he never forgave me. What the hell was I thinking?"

The mobile phone began to beep. Alex looked at it in surprise. "We have him."

She attached an earpiece to the computer and listened in.

"We have them, sir," a voice she didn't recognize said.

"Bring them to the hotel, and your payment will be waiting," replied Seo Chang-Hee.

The phone cut off after that. "Son of a bitch," Alex cursed. She took off the earpiece.

"What is it?" Carina asked.

"I've got some bad news and I've got some really bad news. The bad news is they weren't on long enough for me to trace the location. The really bad news is they have two people captured. They must be talking about Hansen and Jimmy."

"Shit," Carina hissed. "We can still trace Elias' signal on her mobile phone. She has to meet with Seo Chang-Hee at some point if she is to get her money. We'll tell the CIA office to put a high priority on her mobile phone."

"Wait. Maybe he had enough time…" Alex pulled out her mobile phone and dialed a number.

"What are you doing?"

"Jimmy has one of the newer mobile phones. If he had enough time to hit the buttons before he got captured, dialing his number will activate the emergency transponder signal inside of it. Assuming of course they didn't think to throw his mobile phone away."

"Wouldn't Seo Chang-Hee have already scanned for that or removed the battery from his phone?"

"No, that's the point of dialing the phone. It works on a passive system on a small battery inside of the phone, so throwing away the phone's main battery won't disable it. When you dial the number, it will emit a low-power signal that we can trace."

"Did it work?"

Alex listened on the phone. Suddenly she heard a steady beeping sound, and she attached her phone to the laptop. "Got it. The location is coming up on the computer now. He's somewhere in the Gaslamp district. The signal is still moving."

Carina threw the car hard to the right and bolted down the first exit ramp. She re-entered Interstate 5 in the opposite direction, driving south to the Gaslamp district.

_**Omni Hotel, San Diego  
January 9, 2011  
11:30 AM**_

Jimmy slowly opened his eyes. His mind was still in a fog from the tranquilizer dart he received. He tried to move, but his hands and feet were bound. He looked around the room, trying to take in his environment. It appeared to be a large hotel room suite. The condition of the room would indicate that nobody had stayed in it last night. The glasses near the bar, the pads of paper on the desks, and remote still attached to the TV made it appear they were just brought here. He looked to his right and saw Lieutenant Hansen sitting in another chair, still unconscious and also tied up.

_Guess I don't get to save the day today_, he thought. He wasn't happy with himself, but he couldn't figure out what should have been done differently. Hansen couldn't have been the one to try and take him out; otherwise he wouldn't be sitting here. He activated the emergency transponder in his mobile phone when he saw Hansen fall unconscious. Unfortunately, he didn't have the phone anymore. He was hoping it was somewhere in the hotel, and Alex and Carina would try to call it. Once they heard it, they would know to call in the cavalry.

Hansen woke up next to him. "Commander?"

Jimmy turned to him. "Let me guess. If Dana wants to get back together with you now, you'll have a perpetual headache."

Hansen was shaking. "I killed us, didn't I? They're going to kill us."

"Hopefully not. I have partners who can track my phone signal. There's an emergency transponder inside of it. Once they try to call it, they'll know to send everybody in the joint after us."

"But didn't you erase the files? By the time anybody finds us, we'll be dead. We're worthless without anything to bargain with."

"I put some files on the memory stick that Seo Chang-Hee will have to go through. That might delay him long enough to buy us some time."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, who are you? You don't act like an officer."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't walk or talk like most of the officers I've served under. Most of them have a very precise way they conduct themselves. You're more like, I don't know, just pretending to be an officer. No offense."

Jimmy shook his head. "Well, I can't take any offense, since I'm not an officer. My name is Roger Murdock. I'm with the CIA. I was sent here to investigate, and another agent found the North Korean spy trying to buy the files. Obviously, Seo Chang-Hee really wants those files and has no problem killing me or kidnapping a member of the U.S. Military to get them. Let's hope my partners can find us. Just don't say anything, no matter what he does to either of us. We have to hold out giving any information as long as possible."

Several men walked into the room. One of them stood behind Hansen with a gun out. Two others stood behind Jimmy. Seo Chang-Hee walked into the room and glared at the two of them.

"Hey, so glad you kissed and made up with Shatner," Jimmy said with the intention of keeping Seo Chang-Hee upset and off-topic. "By the way, did it annoy you that the _Harold and Kumar_ guy played you in the new _Star Trek_ movie? I mean, I'd be pissed if they did a movie about me, and I was played by, like, Seth Rogen."

One of the men behind Jimmy hit him with his gun. Jimmy shook his head clear. He gave the guy a contemptuous look. "I always wondered what ever happened to that 'pants on the ground' guy. Never made a dime off of that, huh?"

"Relax," Seo Chang-Hee said to the very upset person behind Jimmy. "He's with the CIA. That's his job; to keep me from accomplishing my tasks."

"Actually, I'm with the PGA, and my job is to help improve your golf game."

Seo Chang-Hee gestured to the man, who delivered another vicious blow to Jimmy's head. Jimmy was dazed, and he struggled to stay upright.

"Do you plan to continue this, Agent Murdock? Agent Roger Murdock? I already know about you and the other two agents. I saw the redhead three years ago in Malibu. She is not as careful with her surveillance as she thinks. And I believe the other agent helped you in New York a few months ago? A shame, really. A lot of talented people wasted on a futile effort."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. Was there anybody who didn't know about New York? What good was being a secret agent if everybody knew who you were?

----------

Alex and Carina drove into the parking lot of the hotel and the source of Jimmy's mobile phone signal. They walked through the lobby of the hotel towards the elevators. Carina eyed the clerk working at the front desk. She motioned to Alex and walked back to the desk.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me with something," she innocently asked the clerk.

The clerk picked up the phone. "Give me one second ma'am. I have to call a guest's room to give them some information."

Behind the clerk, Alex pointed her gun at his head. "No, you can put the phone down and tell us where they are." Carina reached over the desk to hang up the phone.

"I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."

Carina aimed her gun as well. "She means the people you are working with. The ones who told you to kill the real clerk, hide him in the back, and then take his place?"

The clerk remained silent. Alex grabbed the clerk and flipped him to the ground. She aimed her gun inches from his face.

"What do you think, Carina? Take out a kneecap?"

"He looks like one of my ex-boyfriends. I say shoot him in the balls."

"You're the boss," Alex replied as she cocked her gun.

"Room 442!" the clerk fearfully cried. Alex pistol-whipped him unconscious.

"Thank you."

Alex and Carina went down the hall to the elevators.

----------

"This memory stick will be quite valuable to my government. The analysts are going over the information already," Seo Chang-Hee boasted while looking at Jimmy with a victorious expression. "However, I think they'll be even happier once I get everything I can out of a man who serves in the command center of an American ship and one of its spies."

"You might as well kill me now, because I ain't talking," replied Hansen, attempting to show some bravado and regain some self-respect.

Seo Chang-Hee looked at him with condescension. "Do you really think it will be that easy? We have your files, and with the right combination of medicines, we will get anything we want out of you."

Jimmy tried to contain his laughter. "Hey, Mr. Sulu, do you think we can listen in when your analysts call you back?"

"Why do you want to do that?"

"I just want to hear them thank you for helping them pick their lucky lottery numbers from the program you sent them."

----------

Alex and Carina exited the elevator. Two men immediately came after them. One threw a punch that connected with Carina, who stumbled back into maintenance closet. The man went in after her. Alex threw an elbow at the second man and then connected with a roundhouse kick, taking the man out. A hard hit from the barrel of a gun landed at the back of her head, and she fell to the ground. She turned around and looked at who hit her.

Susan Elias stood over Alex with a gun pointed at her head.

"You won't stop me from collecting my money," Elias said in a menacing voice.

Alex smiled. "Susan, do you remember Carina Miller?"

Elias turned around in time to receive a hook from Carina's fist. Elias fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

"Yeah, she remembers me," Carina replied.

The two moved down the hall toward Room 442.

----------

Seo Chang-Hee angrily hung up his mobile phone after confirming what Jimmy had just told him about the files.

Jimmy's smile was even wider now. "By the way, we cracked the signal on your phone a couple of hours ago, so that call you just made was probably traced by the local CIA office. That means there will be about 50 agents and cops surrounding this hotel in the next two minutes."

Seo Chang-Hee was slowly losing his patience. The men surrounding Jimmy and Hansen were furious.

"Hey, we didn't sign up for this. You ain't paying us enough to risk getting put away for life."

"Just kill them, and then you can go," Seo Chang-Hee replied.

Jimmy looked towards the door. Underneath the door, he could make out two pairs of feet. Both sets a size 7. Women's size 7."

"And one more thing. Tell your goons when they tie someone up, they should tie the person's legs to the chair and not just to each other."

The two men standing behind Jimmy looked down at his feet. Jimmy pulled the chair up and back, swinging the chair legs hard back and forth, knocking both of them down. The man behind Hansen aimed his gun at Jimmy. Hansen lurched back in his chair and sent that man stumbling. His gun went off and Hansen was shot in the leg. He fell over onto the ground as Jimmy swung the chair leg at one of the men on the ground, nailing him in the face. Seo Chang-Hee took another chair and threw it through the large window at the other end of the room, shattering it. The door broke open, and Alex and Carina entered. Carina landed a blow at one of the men trying to get up, and Alex shot the man behind Hansen before he could bring his gun up. Alex took out a knife and cut the restraints on Jimmy while Carina went to help Hansen with his injury. They turned in time to see Seo Chang-Hee leap out of the window.

"Dammit, he's getting away," Carina said.

Jimmy was beyond furious. He grabbed the gun from the man Alex shot.

"Like hell." He raced for the window.

"Jimmy, wait! You're…" Alex cried out too late as Jimmy jumped out of the window. "…four floors up."

She ran to the window just in time to see Jimmy drop from the tree branch he caught. Carina walked over to the window as well while keeping a gun aimed on the remaining two men who held Jimmy and Hansen. Both women shook their heads.

Carina looked at Alex. "Does he always…"

"Yup."

"Do you think he's…"

"…a few sandwiches short of a picnic? No question."

Carina smiled. "Then if you want to work with him, he must be really…"

"…oh, he definitely is."

Jimmy dropped to the ground and grunted in pain as his shoulder hit a root of the tree poking out of the ground. He pulled himself up and raced towards Seo Chang-Hee's car. Seo Chang-Hee floored it as Jimmy leaped onto the roof of the car. He pulled out his gun. Seo Chang-Hee turned the car hard to the right, and Jimmy was thrown off of the roof. He turned back towards the exit, but two governmental cars blocked his path. He turned to the other exit, only to be stopped by two San Diego Police Department cars. Jimmy ran toward his car and shot out the tires in the back. He came around to the front of Seo Chang-Hee's car and shot the front tires. He aimed his gun at the driver.

"Get out of the car. Now!"

Seo Chang-Hee didn't move. The officers and agents surrounding the car got out with their weapons drawn.

"Get out of the car right now!" Jimmy was ready to empty his gun into the car.

Seo Chang-Hee stared at Jimmy from inside of the car. He gave a malevolent smile.

He then held up something in his right hand. Jimmy's eyes went wide.

"Bomb!!!" Jimmy flew over one of the squad cars, and everybody dove for cover. Seo Chang-Hee pushed a button and his car exploded. Everyone was knocked to the ground and showered with debris.

_**Omni Hotel  
January 9, 2011  
12:45 PM **_

Jimmy sat, still dazed from the explosion, in the parking lot as an EMT took care of his injuries. The CIA office was processing the individuals in the hotel who were to be charged with aiding Seo Chang-Hee, including Susan Elias. Based on her prior convictions, she qualified for a life sentence if she were to be found guilty of any of the dozen counts against her. Lieutenant Hansen was already taken to the hospital. Two San Diego Police officers were treated for minor injuries from the explosion, but things could have been far worse.

Admiral Carter and CIA Field Office Director Whelan slowly approached Jimmy.

"There he is, the man of the hour," Admiral Carter said with a little more punch behind his drawl.

Jimmy smiled weakly. "Thank you, sir. I hope you don't mind if I don't get up this time. My head is still out of whack from that explosion. And I think Agents Forrest and Miller deserve the credit here. After all, they found us. Any word about Hansen?"

"Hansen is at the hospital and should be fine. He's got a lot of trouble ahead of him, though."

"I know that, sir. But he did tell us everything and didn't allow the files to fall into enemy hands. In fact, he saved my life up in the hotel. Do you think the Judge Advocate General will take that into account? It's clear Hansen was doing a bad thing for a good cause."

"I'll tell 'em about it, son," Carter replied. "We'll see what we can do."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey, you did great work." Admiral Carter shook Jimmy's hand. "Good luck to you."

Carter walked back to his car. Jimmy turned to Whelan. "Thanks for all of your help. Sorry to bring such a mess to your office."

Whelan smiled. "Don't worry. This is nothing. You should see how crazy this town is when the Super Bowl is here. Four months of pure hell to get ready for it, and all I really want to do is just enjoy the game."

Jimmy smiled. "I can imagine. But at least everything is back to semi-normal." The EMT finished with Jimmy, and he rose slowly. He looked a little downcast.

"Everything OK, Murdock? You don't look like someone who just stopped one of North Korea's top spies."

"I'm fine. I guess I wasn't expecting this job to be so crazy. I'm still trying to get used to doing all of this."

"I read your file. You've done a lot of work in a short time. Langley certainly isn't babying you. Most agents don't get as many high-priority cases in five years that you've gotten in 4 months."

"Knowing Beckman, she'll probably be pissed we didn't take Seo Chang-Hee alive."

Whelan laughed. "You're right. But I wouldn't worry too much about it. Luck is a big part of this job. Sometimes, it's on your side." Whelan patted her wheelchair. "Sometimes it isn't."

"Forrest was telling me about what happened to you. I think the four agents you saved would say luck was definitely on their side."

Whelan smiled. "Sometimes, luck is a matter of who you work with." She pointed towards Alex and Carina, who were giving information to some of Whelan's agents. "I'd say you got lucky on that one."

Jimmy nodded. His previous anger towards Alex was almost completely gone. "That I did."

_**Loews Hotel  
January 9, 2011  
9:45 PM **_

Carina walked down the hallway in the hotel, pulling her suitcase with her.

"Thank you for all of your help. I owe you big time for this," Jimmy said as he escorted her to the elevators.

"I admit being apprehensive about you at first, but you did a good job on this mission," Carina replied. "You get a bit nervous sometimes, and you go a little overboard with the crazy stunts. But Sarah has a knack for knowing who the good agents are. She was on target again."

"Thanks. I'll bet you're glad to be done so you can go back to being on vacation."

Carina smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Actually, there is a way you can pay me back."

They reached the elevator. "What's that?"

Carina turned Jimmy towards her. She gave him a piercing come hither look and ran her fingers along the buttons of his shirt. "I'm going to be in Del Mar for another week before my next assignment, and I need a little something to do while I'm waiting." Her voice became even lower and breathier as she got closer to him and let her fingers glide over his chest. "And you still look like you need something to help you relax."

Her lips were mere inches from his as she slid her hand down the front of his pants. "I might be able to relieve some of your stress."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. He grabbed Carina and kissed her hard. She replied by snaking her tongue deep inside of his mouth. He lifted her leg in his hand as she grinded against his pelvic area and grabbed his hair. He pushed her up against the wall with his body and began caressing her all over. She started breathing heavily and tried to hold on tight.

Suddenly, Jimmy backed away from her, pushed the button inside the elevator for the Lobby, and stepped out. "Thanks for saving my life. Take care of yourself."

Carina looked at him in shock while panting as the elevator doors closed. Jimmy smiled while staring at the elevator.

"Ah, if only I could have pulled that off with the girls in high school," he said quietly to himself as he returned to his room and relaxed on the bed.

A few moments later, there was a quiet knock at the door. It opened slowly and Alex entered. She closed the door and leaned against it, having dreaded this moment the entire day. She knew she had to go through with this, but she was afraid of what would happen next. Jimmy stared at her.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. "My father suffered a stroke. I've been…trying to reconnect with my family since returning from New York. I tried at Christmas, but that ended up being a disaster. My brother and I, well, we haven't gotten along since we were kids. Never have, and I don't know if we ever will. I think he gets mad that he has to be the stable one with the 9-to-5 job and all the responsibilities while he thinks I'm some unfeeling workaholic. Which used to be true. I was deep undercover in Iran when my mother died, and he never forgave me for not coming home soon enough. And now with my father…I was…I was desperate to put things back together. But things have gotten even worse. And then I let it affect my job. I took it all out on you."

Alex walked slowly across the room and sat down on the bed next to Jimmy. He didn't change expression, but he didn't move away, either. Alex was shaking.

"I wish…I wish I could take back last night. I said or did something horrible to you and had no right at all to act that way. What's worse, I don't even remember what it was. I have no excuse for what I did. You've done nothing but help me with these missions and be a good friend."

Alex put her head in her hands. She could feel a few tears coming.

"I'm so sorry, James," she whispered.

Jimmy looked down at the ground. The room was silent. Alex could hear her own ragged breathing. Alex lifted her head slightly and looked at Jimmy, but he was still looking at the ground.

She got up and started to walk away from the bed. Jimmy gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the bed. She sat down next to him again. His hand moved down her arm and held her hand.

He looked at her and gently brushed a few tears away from her cheek. "I'm sorry to hear about your father."

Alex shut her eyes and clasped Jimmy's hand in both of hers. Jimmy pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her. Alex's tears came in full force. She shook violently in Jimmy's arms as he held her tight.

"Shhh, it's OK," Jimmy whispered gently into her ear. Alex hung on to Jimmy tightly as the emotions of the last 60 hours overwhelmed her in an unending wave. It felt like the world she knew, the world she had built around herself, had fallen apart. She didn't even have the walls she used to hide behind to keep from getting hurt. She hung on to the one constant she still had. The one thing that refused to be pushed away.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Jimmy," she whispered over and over in his ear as the tears streamed down her face. She could feel Jimmy gently stroking her hair, whispering that everything will be OK, that he was there. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe with someone else. All of her walls were down, and someone was there to make her feel safe in letting that happen. She hadn't felt this way since John and she used to hold each other in his Washington D.C. apartment a decade ago.

"I'm…I'm not used to this," she said as she continued to grip Jimmy firmly. "I'm not used to my life being so out of control. I needed to be in charge. I needed to make the decisions. And now everything is…"

"I know. I wish I knew what I could say to make it better. But I'm just as much of a screw up when it comes to dealing with my emotions. I've been alone all of my life, and I just got used to feeling anger and hate all the time. You'd think I could handle anything anybody says to me. But..."

Alex pulled back and looked at Jimmy. "What did I do last night? I wish I could recall something that I did or said, but I drank too much alcohol to know what happened."

"It's not important. Don't worry…"

"No!" Alex held Jimmy's face tightly. "Please don't write this off. I did something horrible. The look you gave me this morning made me shudder. I'm so sorry for not remembering, but I really need to know, James. Please tell me."

Jimmy hesitated. Alex could feel a cold shiver go through him.

"What is it?"

"You had…well you were drunk and I'm sure you didn't mean it…but you yelled at me thinking I had some sort of perfect family and I couldn't understand what it would be like to have it fall apart. My mother and my sister…they, they died when I was 8. Auto accident. My father was responsible. He was drunk behind the wheel."

Jimmy paused for a second. "He didn't tell me until I was 16. He kept it a secret all that time. He never stopped drinking."

Alex felt the blood drain from her face. "Oh, my God," she whispered. She now understood completely why Chuck wouldn't tell her the story. This was something you had to get from the source. Even her life now was idyllic compared to the horror Jimmy had to endure to make it this far.

"James, I'm so…I'm so…oh, God." Alex grabbed him and held him again.

"That was horrible of me," she whispered in his ear, kissing him on his cheek between apologies. "I'm so sorry."

They sat in those same spots on the bed, holding onto each other, for longer than either of them could remember.

_**Loews Hotel  
January 10, 2011  
3:45 AM **_

Alex opened her eyes and looked around the bedroom. It was still dark outside. She could make out 3:45 on the clock radio behind Jimmy's head. Jimmy and she were still wearing the same clothes they had earlier that night. They were sleeping face-to-face with their arms wrapped around each other. Her face was nestled against his upper arm, and she never felt more comfortable in her life. She watched him as his body gently moved up and down with his breathing. She ran her hand across his cheek, careful not to touch the two bandages from cuts on the side of it. She felt normal for the first time in a long time. Not cold-hearted, not out of control, but the way she always wanted to feel. The way she used to feel when she was with John. She could always lie in the same bed with John for hours on end, and sometimes days depending on their schedules. She never thought she could feel that same way again, but this moment was exactly that feeling. Perhaps it was even better because it took so much hard work and effort to make this feeling come alive again.

She gently placed her lips on Jimmy's, giving him a prolonged soft kiss. She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb as she kissed him again with a little more force. The emotions she felt earlier, channeled into grief for everything that happened in the previous few days, were suddenly rising again in her desire for Jimmy.

She gently pushed him onto his back and continued to kiss him. Jimmy stirred from feeling her on top of him and opened his eyes. She gazed into his royal blue eyes, taking in their gentle color, feeling how he held her through the night when she needed him the most. She held his face tightly in her hands and kissed him with a passion she didn't know still existed in her. His arms wrapped around her and his lips were soft but strong against hers, as her tongue gently played inside of his mouth. She pressed her entire body up against his as she continued to kiss him fervently. His hands roamed up and down her back, caressing every inch of her. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt as she feasted on his neck, licking and nibbling it as she kissed him all over his chest. She helped him get her shirt off and unhooked her bra, pulling his face up to her and smothering him with her breasts. She moaned in passion as his lips and tongue danced along the soft flesh, his hands gently cupping each breast. Her body grinded against him. She made quick work of her slacks and panties, and then went to work removing those same barriers on him. Her body was dripping in sweat as she accepted him inside of her. Their kisses were embers of fire against each other as their passion built up inside of them. Their bodies were intertwined, and it was almost impossible to separate the two as they reached the heights of ecstasy. They collapsed on the bed as they held each other tightly.

_**Loews Hotel  
January 10, 2011  
9:00 AM **_

Jimmy watched Alex put together the last of her luggage. She shut down her computer and placed it in her attaché case. She didn't say much to him in the morning, other than to give him a passionate kiss. She wanted things to be so much more. She hadn't felt this way about someone since John.

If this happened under normal circumstances, she would have been in love with Jimmy. Perhaps she was. But life was out of control right now and she didn't know what she was feeling or how to deal with it.

She didn't know how he felt, either. Given his admission on not being able to handle emotions any better than she could, she was afraid to ask him. Maybe he was in love with her. Maybe it was a matter of her being the first woman who ever made love to him. She wasn't sure, and as much as she wanted to find out, she was afraid he may not feel the same way. She wasn't certain if she could handle that right now.

"What are you going to do?" Jimmy asked.

Alex had made this decision yesterday. It was the only logical one. "I already sent an email to Beckman, requesting a leave of absence. God knows I've got enough vacation time saved up. I would have had to find some time off this year, anyway. 4 weeks worth of vacation will be gone if I don't take them by December."

"Use it or lose it, huh? Will that be enough?"

"I don't know. If I have to apply for FMLA, I will. But however long it takes with my father, I need to do it."

"I feel a bit responsible. You said you didn't have to deal with these emotions before you met me, and now…"

Alex walked up to him and took his hands. "James, I know I have no right to say this, but please forget anything I said when I was drunk. You didn't do anything wrong. I had to deal with this whether I wanted to or not. It's…it's just I'm afraid to do it. But I need to do this. You didn't hurt me; you helped me."

He nodded. "OK. If you need anything, and I mean anything…someone to talk to at 3 in the morning, yell at, get freaky with over the phone…"

Alex laughed. "Well, I'll definitely take you up on that last one. Thank you for putting up with me." She slid her hands around his neck and kissed him. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Take care of yourself."

She held his hands for a few more seconds and then reluctantly grabbed her attaché case and clothes. She left the hotel room. A tear came to her eye as she waited for the elevator. The last five months have put her through the biggest emotional roller coaster she had ever been on. There were so many ups and downs to contend with. She was determined to reconnect with her family, and she was willing to even leave the CIA behind to do it.

She looked back towards the room. She pulled away the first time before she developed an emotional attachment to Jimmy. The second time, her life was in turmoil, and yet he stuck by her.

If she was fortunate enough to get a third opportunity, she had no intention of letting him go.

_**Pacific Coast Highway  
January 12, 2011  
11:00 AM **_

Jimmy stayed around San Diego for another day to finish his reports. Roxie Whelan appreciated his efforts and wanted to take him out to dinner, but he decided to be alone and politely declined the invite. He knew he should have flown back to Washington D.C., or at least check in with General Beckman to see where his next assignment was. But he needed to clear his head first.

He found a beat-up convertible at a used car lot. A reasonable amount of cash meant the dealer wouldn't ask too many questions. He lucked out with the weather; it was sunny and in the 60's as he drove up the coast.

The twelve months since being released from the ICU had been nothing short of crazy. He remembered the old phrase about life beginning at 40. In his case, that was almost literally true. He had to be brought back to life, and he chose to live the life that Chuck and Sarah wanted for him. He certainly never expected things to turn out like this. In the span of five months, he had been on four major missions in four different parts of the world. He was successful in every single one. Chuck and Sarah were right; he was meant to do this job. But he was having trouble with everything that went with the job. He was having difficulty accepting his new life, try as he might. He was starting to feel some emotional drain from being on these dangerous missions. And it still bothered him that his past kept coming up at the wrong moments. Certainly Alex was too drunk to remember what she said, and clearly she didn't mean a word of it. But Jimmy couldn't figure out why it still upset him so much.

His mobile phone began to ring. He saw Sarah's picture on the caller ID. He put his wireless headset in.

"Hi Sarah."

"What exactly did you do to Carina?"

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to her yesterday. She sounded very weird. It was almost like she was dreaming. Did something happen between you two?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jimmy, come on," Sarah replied in her no-BS voice that let Jimmy know he was about to get in a lot of trouble.

"Well, put it this way: how do you handle a bully?"

"Give them a good hard punch. Wait, you didn't…"

"Of course not," Jimmy replied, annoyed at the accusation. "I just turned the tables on her a bit. You know how she is with men, right? I just let the hunter have a taste of being the hunted for once."

Sarah laughed. "She will never live this down. First Morgan, and now you."

Jimmy was shocked. "Morgan? Seriously?"

"Carina is definitely not used to hearing the word 'no' from men. Don't worry; I'm sure the crazy fog will lift soon. How are you doing?"

"I'm OK," Jimmy lied without a hint of covering himself.

"Yeah, right. What's wrong? Talk to me."

"This…this mission got a bit more complicated than I wanted it to."

"Was it about what happened with Alex?"

"How do you know about that?"

"She called here after she got back to D.C. She wanted to apologize to Chuck and me for how she behaved towards you. Maybe she figured we would talk and wanted to make sure we knew how sorry she was for what she did. She thinks we're very protective of you. And she's right."

Jimmy drove in silence for a moment. "Well, she's on her way back to Philadelphia, I assume. She said she would call, but…"

"You just have to be patient with her, Jimmy. She's having a hard time with all of this. I went through it. She knows you're there if she needs you. Trust me; the woman is crazy about you."

Jimmy shook his head and smiled as he pulled over at a lookout point. "Words I never expected anybody to utter where I would be involved."

"Don't even start, Jimmy…"

"Hey, you're one of only four people on the entire planet who knows my history. Even you have to admit my life is a little crazy."

"Crazy, yes. But even you have to admit we were right. We said you could be a great agent, and so far you've got a success rate any agent would be jealous of."

Jimmy leaned against the hood of the car and gazed out at the Pacific Ocean. He reached into the small cooler in the back seat for a bottle of water. "The spy part I seem to be getting the hang of. I just wasn't expecting the rest of it."

"The rest of it?"

"I don't know. I…I just wish I knew why what she did bothers me so much. I mean I know she was stressed out and blitzed and obviously she didn't mean it, but…why am I…"

"Don't beat yourself up. It takes years to gain the mental strength to keep your emotions working for you instead of against you."

"I guess. It's just…I spent such a big part of my life hating myself. Being angry, not trusting anybody. I figured there wasn't anything out there that was going to hurt me anymore. I just assumed I built up a tolerance to it, but…I'm probably not making any sense."

"Actually, you just described what I went through when I started. You think you're protecting yourself, but all you're really doing is justifying hating yourself. It makes you do things you shouldn't do, and in this business, they'll have you do things any ordinary person wouldn't have the stomach to do. Kill innocent civilians; take an evil terrorist to bed to find out where they'll strike next. I got a chill when Chuck had to burn a civilian and put them underground because they found some leftover hardware and created their own Intersect. It reminded me of how I started with him."

"You never told me about that."

"I know. It was about a year ago. We were just starting to get over your death at the time. It was one of our first cases after your funeral. Things were so touch-and-go for a while, and it reminded me of how cold-hearted I used to be as an agent."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just skip some of the steps I went through. Find something you can fix about your past. It's a good starting point. Maybe it will help you start seeing what everybody else sees in you. I know you can't bring your family back, but maybe there's something else. Something you can do for yourself. You're not being selfish if you want something. You're only selfish when you try to get it by hurting others. You're a really wonderful person. We know you can do this."

"Thanks, kiddo."

"You still owe us a visit. Why don't you come to L.A. for a few days? If push comes to shove, we'll just tell Beckman we needed your help on a mission."

Jimmy smiled. "I'll be there soon. I promise."

"OK. Remember, you always have family here. You know we love you."

"Thanks, Sarah. Tell Chuck and Casey I said hi."

"Bye, Jimmy."

"Bye."

Jimmy drank the last of the water from the bottle and threw it in the garbage can. He got back in the car and continued driving. His mind was a million miles away from the road, which probably wasn't the smartest idea on a highway with so many hairpin twists and turns.

He didn't know what he wanted, because he never thought was worthy of anything before. The last 16 months, ever since that day he taught the computer class, seemed almost foreign to him. He wasn't used to having a purpose in life, having people depend on him, and having people love him. He didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't know how to deal with his past other than to ignore it. Perhaps that's why Alex's words hurt him, even though she didn't really mean them. No matter how much progress he went through, he couldn't leave his past there. Somehow it always managed to rear its ugly head.

Perhaps Sarah had the right idea: confronting it and fixing it instead of ignoring it. But there was little point in going back to Chicago just to curse at his father's grave or re-visit his old high school where he was tormented on a daily basis.

Without realizing it, he started driving east. He drove towards Route 58 and headed south. As he neared, his mobile phone began to ring.

"Agent Murdock, why have you not returned to Washington?" General Beckman's voice demanded an answer and would not tolerate the wrong one.

"My apologies, General. I got tied up gathering some information out here in California. With your permission, I'd like to be taken off of active status temporarily."

"Why?"

"To be honest, I'd rather not tell you yet, because I'm not certain what I'm doing can be done. But if it can, then everybody will benefit."

Jimmy heard what sounded like an interminable silence over the phone. "Very well, Agent Murdock. You're off-duty for now."

"General, I'm curious. Did everything work out with Lt. Hansen?"

"I talked with a colleague in the JAG office. Hansen will likely serve a short sentence and be reduced in rank. But he'll be able to continue his Navy career. Admiral Carter talked to one of the companies contracting with the Navy, and he was able to get his father a job. And somehow, about $50,000 found its way into a bank account, and now the Hansen's house is out of foreclosure. The mortgage is paid for the next two years. Any ideas on how that happened, Agent Murdock?"

Jimmy smiled. "Haven't a clue, General."

"You have 72 hours to report back to me on what you're doing. And whatever this is had better be successful."

She hung up the phone. Even across the country, her attitude towards agents was obvious, but Jimmy didn't care. This was one thing he wanted that was still under his control.

He drove up to the house. Jimmy heard that he moved here about 8 months ago. The house looked like any other one in the area, but Jimmy suspected he was dealing with a high-tech security system, and there were cameras monitoring his every move.

To say nothing about the man who walked up behind him with the very large gun.

"What are you doing here?" The man was not used to having visitors, especially ones who just dropped in.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir. But I need your help. You promised you would try to help me once. Perhaps I should have taken you up on it back then, but…"

The man cocked his gun. "I have no idea who you are."

Jimmy smiled. "Actually, you do. You told me I was that angry kid who was full of piss and fire, and that there wasn't anything that I couldn't do. You told me to trust Chuck, Sarah, and Casey."

Jimmy turned towards the man. "And you were right about all of it."

The man staggered back in shock. He immediately lowered his gun.

"Jimmy?"

"Hi, Mr. Bartowski."

* * *

_To be continued in **"Chuck vs. 3 Weddings, a Funeral, Two Retirements, and a Birthday."**_


End file.
